Biological fitness is best defined as
A) a heritable trait that increases the match of an individual to its environment.
B) variability in the population for a trait that increases survival.
C) the ability of an individual to produce offspring that survive and reproduce, relative to other individuals in the population.
D) competition among individuals for resources that allow them to have more offspring.
E) similar reproductive success among individuals in a population.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Biological fitness is defined as the ability of an individual to produce surviving offspring that are capable of reproducing, relative to other individuals in the population. This definition is captured in option C. Option A refers to adaptation, rather than fitness, whereas option B is describing genetic variation. Option D refers to the process of natural selection, which can influence fitness but does not define it. Option E describes a scenario where all individuals in a population have similar fitness, but it does not define what biological fitness is.

Biological Fitness Is Best Defined as