Question #93356
1 Answer
If an organism survives due to a new adaptation e.g. a bird's beak becomes better at breaking nuts.
It will be able to pass on said adaptation when it reproduces to it's offspring.
Explanation:
Adaptations are the product of an organism surviving because it benefited them.
I use the example of a bird beak because the best example of adaptations comes from birds, in particularly the Darwin Finch, which without saying too much, contributed to the theory of evolution, in particularly the part on survival of the fittest.
The Darwin Finch lives on the Galapagos Islands, believed to have descended from a flock of finches which were blown off course by a storm to the islands.
There they found many different types of food, and certain members of the flocks where able to survive better than others due to the characteristics of their beak giving them an edge.
These characteristics allowed them to feed better than other birds, and were able to out compete them and more of them survived than those without the desired beak characteristics for the food.
The surviving birds were able to reproduce, and pass on their characteristics to their offspring, who in turn, were able to feed better than the offspring (if there was any or if they survived) of birds without the characteristics.
In time, all birds without these characteristics would die and or their characteristics disappear as they bred.
This happened all over these islands, and led to a variety of different Darwin Finches, each with their own distinct beak which is designed to make the most of that island's food source.
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This is why survival is needed for adaptations, as an adaptation is only going to be passed on if it is useful- and contributes to the organism's survival.
Hope this helps.
-Charlie
