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Can you imagine if everybody looked the same, acted the same, and talked the same? Wouldn't life be boring? The fact that you are the product of both male and female gametes ensures that this does not happen. It allows for variety within the human species. In this activity, you will learn how inherited traits influence diversity and survival within and among species.

Variety within any species is a way to help that species survive. Have you ever wondered why some people never get sick and yet others are sick all the time? This is partly because every person has different traits. Some people are better able to resist viruses so they do not get sick as often. This is the same in all species. Some individuals are better suited to survive in their habitat, and because of this, they produce the next generation of the species. It is known as survival of the fittest.

@creativecommons

Among animals in the wild, what animals survive to become old enough to mate? Are they the animals that are smaller than the rest, the ones that have something physically wrong with them, or that run slower than the rest of the herd? No!

Such animals are preyed upon by others for food. They usually do not live long enough to mate. The natural reason for this is that the survival of the species as a whole depends on the best of the species producing the next generation. Having only the best of the species producing the next generation allows the next generation to be even better suited to their habitat than their parents were.

When one species is able to do this, any species that interacts with that species in the predator-prey relationship has to do it as well. Think of it this way. If the only deer in the bush were able to outrun 75% of the wolves in the forest, which wolves would survive? It's simple, isn't it? Only the wolves that were able to catch the deer so that they could eat would live. They would, in turn, be the wolves that reproduce to create the next generation.

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Digging Deeper

Click on the Play button below to watch a video that further explains how inherited traits influence survival within and among a species.