Natural selection.
Darwin formed his hypothesis of natural selection by drawing two
inferences based on his observations.
Observation #1 : Individuals of a population exhibit variation in
their traits.
Observation #2 : Many traits are heritable.
Observation #3 : Many species overproduce offspring.
Observation #4 : Resources are limited; many of these offspring do
not survive due to competition for those resources.
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Inference #1 (natural selection): Individuals whose traits give
them a high probability of surviving and reproducing are likely to
leave more offspring than others.
Inference #2 (adaptation): A population will accumulate favorable
traits over generations and become adapted to its environment.