Evolution is the process by which populations change across generations. Mutation creates variation, natural selection favors traits that help survival and reproduction, and genetic drift can shift traits by chance.
That means evolution is not a ladder or a goal. It is a branching process shaped by environment, chance, and inheritance. Species are not trying to become something else; populations are simply changing over time.
The useful mental model is descent with modification. Offspring resemble parents, but not exactly, and those small differences compound over long stretches of time into big biological change.
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