Why is evolution dependent on variation among individuals of a species?

Question

Why is evolution dependent on variation among individuals of a species?

Answer 1

You can't really have survival of the fittest if everyone is the same.

Answer 2

You also find the same concept in the business world.  Say gas is cheap and everyone buys a big car because big means status.  A few small cars are made for people who don't have a lot of money.  Gas gets expensive and people start buying up all the small cars and small cars become the normal. Nature does this by giving creatures all kinds of differences some are just small differences but as time goes by and changes occur in enviroment then there are individuals who can meet the change and cause the creature to carry on but with a difference than previous generations.

Answer 3

evolution is a lie

Answer 4

Because each variation will interact differently with the environment. Some will help the species, some will not. For example, giraffes could have started with different length necks. Some could have short necks, some long, some in between. But once the leaves at the bottom of the tree were gone (eaten by other animals, wiped away from flooding, etc), the ones with short necks wouldn't be able to survive. Since they couldn't reach the food, they eventually died out. Thus, giraffes now have long necks. If all the giraffes had been born with the same length neck, the species might not have survived at all. BTW this is an example, I don't know how exactly giraffes evolved.

Answer 5

You are describing Natural Selection, not evolution.

Natural Selection acts on variation and sorting of *existing* genetic information.

Goo-to-you evolution is the hypothesis that one kind of plant/animals has changed into another. This would require a massive net increase in genetic infromation.

The proposed mechanism is mutations, yet all observed mutations are information neutral or lossy.

It suits some people (for their own philosphical/religious purposes) to confuse NS and evolution, claiming that NS is proof of goo-to-you evolution. It most certainly is not.

Answer 6

Evolution is the result of the passing on of adaptive traits. Without variation between individuals, there would be no traits to be adaptive or maladaptive- the species can't evolve if there is no "new" trait to set certain individuals apart from others. Hope this makes sense.

Answer 7

There was a study that reported male birds with glossy feathers got more mates. The variation among the individuals showed various amounts of color and gloss of the feathers.

What was found was males with the best feathers were resistant to feather mites. Offspring from the males tended to have the same resistance.

Clearly if a male had even more gloss and color, he'd be morelikle to mate and pass the trait on.