Which of the following best represents the mechanism described for evolution?

• A. States that evolutionary change comes through the production of variation in each generation and differential survival of individuals with different combinations of these variable characters.
• B. The Theory of Divine Creation
• C. Liberal and Democratic Education
• D. Hieroglyphics

Answer: (A)

Natural selection is the mechanism at work in evolution. It rests on heritable variation among individuals and the competition for limited resources. Some variants confer advantages in surviving and reproducing, so those individuals leave more offspring. Since variation is continually produced each generation through mutation, recombination, and gene flow, the population shifts as advantageous traits become more common over time. The statement reflects this process by describing generation-to-generation variation and differential survival based on differing trait combinations, which drives evolutionary change. The other options don’t describe a mechanism of evolution: divine creation posits a one-time creation event, while the remaining choices pertain to education or ancient scripts rather than evolutionary processes.