What does variation within a species ensure?

Correct option is C

The correct answer is (c) Better adaptability and chances of survival

Explanation:
• Variation refers to the structural, physiological, or behavioral differences among individuals of the same species.
• It provides the raw material for natural selection to act upon, allowing some individuals to survive better in changing environments.
• If an environment changes drastically, individuals possessing favorable variations have a much higher chance of survival and reproduction.
• Without such variation, a single adverse change in the environment could potentially wipe out an entire population.
• Ultimately, genetic diversity ensures that a species as a whole can persist over geological time.

Information Booster:
• Variation is primarily caused by processes such as genetic mutations, gene flow, and sexual reproduction.
• It serves as the fundamental basis for the entire process of biological evolution as proposed by Charles Darwin.

Additional Knowledge:
No mutations (Option a)
• This is completely incorrect because mutations are actually a primary source of genetic variation, not something that is prevented by it.

No evolution (Option b)
• This is incorrect because variation is the fundamental driver of evolution; without it, evolutionary processes would completely halt.

Similar response to environmental changes (Option d)
• This is incorrect because variation ensures diverse and differing responses to environmental stressors, which actively prevents the extinction of the entire species.

So the correct answer is (c)