Even though life is never perfect and not always easy, it is a gift given to each and every one of us to live the way we want. Each individual human being is different and unique in many different ways.
Naturally, we all have different tastes in music, food, life styles, jobs, and much more. If everyone liked the same things, there would most likely not be nearly enough resources to satisfy everyone. The same goes with animals. Each animal is different in its own way due to an adaptation or niche.
Certain animals are more efficient at what they do and more likely to survive and thrive than others. This would be a process known as call Natural Selection. Natural Selection is the process by which forms of life having traits that better enable them to adapt to specific environmental pressures, as predators, changes in climate, or competition for food or mates, will tend to survive and reproduce in greater numbers than others of their kind, thus ensuring the perpetuation of those favorable traits in succeeding generations. In simpler terms, this means that certain things about an animal allow it to survive in a certain area better than another. The term natural selection was introduced by Charles Darwin in 1859. Darwin was an English naturalist who provided evidence that all forms of life evolved over time due to natural selection. Darwin provided huge amounts of scientific evidence that remains to this day to be a very large part of the foundation of biology. An example of natural selection would be in the case of pepper moths which pictures are featured above. These peppered moths were found new English industrial cities around the 19th century. The moths had varying wing coloration which allowed some to survive in certain areas better than others. When the darker colored moths landed on trees or blackened surfaces, they were hidden by predators and harder to spot. This camouflage allowed to live longer and reproduce more than the light moths.
On the darker surfaces, the lighter moths were very noticeable and predators would eat them. Another example of natural selection would be in a case such as Antarctica. Antarctica is a very unique climate much different than the one we live in. That is why is it very uninhabited. The condition are so harsh and extreme that only certain things are able to survive there.
Polar bears, seals, penguins, and several other species are able to survive and thrive in Antarctica because they equipped with special skins, furs, and adaptations that make life possible. If any animals such as deer, snakes, owls, or other animals commonly found in our region were placed in Antarctica, they would most likely not survive. The species would die because they were not adapt to live there and would not know how to take care of themselves. Natural selection is also very similarly to survival of the fittest which simply states that organisms more adapted their environment or most likely to survive. As a population of a species increases, there is a increase in the amount of resources. If their isn’t enough resources in one area, there is completion. The strongest and more adapted animals are able to win the resources and beat the weaker less adapted animals. Without adequate resources, some species in a certain area will starve and the population will drop. Natural selection can be seen in wildlife all over the world. An example of an animal is a Giraffe which is adapted to its environment because it has a long neck and can reach leaves and fruits located up high in trees. 
Other animals are unable to reach the food in the trees so the giraffes do not have competition for food and are able to survive in areas where their resources are found. Without natural selection, the populations of species would be outrageous. The world would be to full of animals and there would be to much competition. It also is a way to better the gene pool. When weak, inefficient animals die, the species’ genes become stronger and better. That means that when an animal reproduces, they off spring will be of higher quality and be more likely to survive in their new environment. Even though some animals seem like a nuisance or scary to some, each animal has a purpose. Each animal is unique or special in its own way and betters the earth at one point or another. Without animals life wouldn’t be quite the same. As humans, we should be more appreciative and respectable towards our environment and the creatures that inhabitant it.
Links:
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