re: #926 Salamantis

Because the environment is not selecting against them. If some traits truly do cut a species’ ability to survive and reproduce off at the knees when faced with changed enviromental exigencies, either mutations that allows the population to continue on occur and are selected, or the species dies out - becomes extinct. As has happened to 99% of terrestrial species.

Are the mutations (a.) generated randomly, and then selected for, or (b.) is there some kind of a pre-selection happening that allows some successful mutations to occur which will be what the environment will favor?