Question

By the statement, 'survival of the fittest' Darwin means that
A)The strongest of all species survive
B)The most intelligent of the species survive
C)The cleverest of the species survives
D)The most adaptable of the species to change survives

Answer 1

Hint: The survival of the fittest is the mechanism of the natural selection of an organism that drives the evolution of life. The concept of survival of the fittest becomes popular through Charles Darwin. Genes of the organism which is better suited to the environment are selected and they passed to the next generation for survival.

Complete answer:
-When the fifth edition of the book 'origin of species' by Charles Darwin published in 1869 then the term survival of the fittest was made famous.
-According to him organisms that adjust to the environment are more successful in surviving and reproducing.
-Darwin borrowed the term survival of the fittest from the book 'the principle of biology' written by Herbert Spencer in 1864.
-Related to the survival of the fittest, Charles Darwin said that "it is not the strongest of the species that survive nor the most intelligent but the one most responsive to change". According to him- it does not depend on how strong an intelligent organism is if they can’t change according to the situations and environment. Automatically, their chance of surviving would be very limited.
-Only the strong survive in this sentence does not mean physical strength but mental strength. Those who are able to take the mental pain and use it to grow and adapt, will be the one who will only survive. Whereas those who think that they are physically strong and smart then they have a hard time adapting and will be the first one to disappear.

Additional Information: Variation reproduction and Heritability are the three crucial elements that are described in Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
-The physical features of any species struggle for existence that can benefit the individual. Thus, they are preserved and passed on to the next generation because the individuals that have them tend to survive.
-The success or the failure of given physical variations is not known until the organisms that cause it, grow and mature and pass it to their offspring or fail to mature and reproduce.

So, the correct answer is,” The most adaptable of the species to change survives”.

Note: -the organisms able to survive those were provided with favorable variations and are fittest to face their surroundings and those who are unfit they are eliminated.
-the phrase "survival of the fittest" was used by Herbert Spencer for the first time and Darwin borrowed his term and named it a "natural selection".