A genetic change in a population over time due to natural selection in response to environmental change is called

• A. Mutation
• B. Adaptation
• C. Evolution
• D. Speciation

Answer: (C)

Evolution is the change in the genetic makeup of a population across generations, driven by differential survival and reproduction in response to changing environmental conditions. This process explains how allele frequencies shift over time when natural selection favors certain traits, leading to population-wide genetic changes. Mutation provides new genetic variation, but it is not the ongoing process of population change itself. Adaptation refers to a trait that increases fitness, not the overall shift in gene frequencies. Speciation is the formation of new species, an eventual outcome that can result from evolution but is not the general process described.