User talk:TedE/Natural selection

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After reading your last version, I was wondering:

Do physical characteristics include traits like behaviour and such, as they can change the outcome as well?

I would also mention survival, as a reduction in reproductive success, but an increased survival of the offsprng can lead to an increased inclusive fittness. KimvdLinde 20:15, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

• Yes, physical characteristics include behavior, in as much as they reflect the physical makeup of the organism's brain, central nervous system, etc.
• Reproductive success includes surviving to reproduce. In class, I normally say "survive and reproduce," or "reproductive success, including survival."

I'm trying to cut down on the complexity of the sentences, though. Parenthetical phrases (and lists) make such sentences unreadable.

A more difficult problem is the use of the terms "characteristic," "phenotype," or "trait." For the most part, I try to avoid the use of "trait," since that is also commonly used to denote "gene." Some people prefer "character." I just stated it the normal way I use it. Ted 20:41, 23 March 2006 (UTC)