Does natural selection create new traits?

Natural selection does not create new traits; rather, it acts on existing traits already present within a population's genetic variation. This mechanism of evolution favors individuals with traits that confer better survival and reproductive success in a given environment. Over time, this "editing" process can lead to changes in the frequency of traits within a population, allowing advantageous traits to become more common while less advantageous traits may diminish.

While it can sometimes result in the appearance of new traits, these are not created from scratch but rather arise from the genetic variations already present due to mutations, gene shuffling during reproduction, and other mechanisms. Natural selection does not introduce new genetic material; instead, it selects from the existing variations, enhancing traits that improve fitness and potentially leading to speciation or significant evolutionary changes over long periods.