Relative fitness

Hey kiddo, do you like playing sports and games? Imagine that you and your friend are playing tag. Both of you are fast runners, but your friend is just a little bit faster than you. This means that your friend has a higher chance of not getting tagged and being "safe".

In biology, we have something called "relative fitness". It's kind of like being fast in tag, but instead of running, it's about survival and reproduction.

In nature, plants and animals are constantly competing with each other for resources like food, water, and space. The ones that are better at getting these resources have a better chance of surviving and reproducing.

So, let's say there are two animals living in a forest: a rabbit and a fox. The rabbit is really good at hiding and the fox is really good at catching rabbits. The rabbit has a higher chance of surviving and passing on its genes because it's good at hiding from the fox. This means the rabbit has a higher relative fitness.

On the other hand, if the fox was faster and better at catching rabbits, it would have a higher relative fitness because it would be more successful at passing on its genes to the next generation.

In summary, relative fitness is all about which organisms are better at surviving and reproducing in their environment. It's like playing tag, but with the goal of passing on your genes instead of just being "safe".