Bio Darwin report Individual organisms differ, and some of this variation is heritable.

Yorkshire terriers and Miniature Poodles are both of the species Canis familiaris, but they differ in many ways, such as in the color of their fur and their behavior.

Organisms produce more offspring than can survive, and many that do survive do not reproduce.

Newborn turtles must travel from the nests to the ocean, and many do not survive due to predation.

Because more organisms are produced than can survive, they compete for limited resources.

The Virginias warbler and the Orange-crowned warbler both compete for resources such as preferred nest sites.

Each unique organism has different advantages and disadvantages in the struggle for existence. Individuals best suited to their environment survive and reproduce most successfully. These organisms pass their heritable traits to their offspring. Others die or leave fewer offspring. This process of natural selection causes species to change over time.

Peppered moths rest during the day on tree trunks, and black peppered moths are eaten most often by birds due to their high visibility. Therefore, there are few black peppered moths compared to gray peppered moths.

Species alive today are descended with modification from ancestral species that lived in the distant past. This process, by which diverse species evolved from common ancestors, unites all organisms on Earth into a single tree of life.

Humans and chimpanzees share many characteristics, which shows that we may be related on the tree of life.