How are "by means of natural selection" and "survival of the fittest" not just based on chance?

If lightning strikes a rain forest and kills a lot of animals, survival would be based on luck. If a shark swims into a school of fish, it might be the lucky fish that survive.

1 Answer
Feb 2, 2016

Natural selection is not random. It's the natural process that lead the "best" individuals to survive and reproduces.

Explanation:

In nature, among species, there is variation. This variation might lead to individuals more likely to survive and/or to reproduce. those can be called " the fittest".

If natural selection was purely random and based on chance, it would mean that a bad hunter wouldn't have wors chance of surviving or that more attractive reproducers wouldn't have better chance of reproduction.