> Let me see if I follow: once the snake population has the warning coloration, and predators know not to eat them, then individual snakes being successful at eating poisonous newts is unrelated to the snakes living long enough to pass their genes (i. e. being successful in terms of natural selection). So a snake which has the right colors will be successful, regardless of its diet.
Sort of. Whether the snake is poisonous is unrelated to its success, because it dies upon being eaten whether there are consequences to its predator or not. (The article takes some pains to show that this is untrue of the newts, but not the snakes.)
However,
> the snakes living long enough to pass their genes (i. e. being successful in terms of natural selection)
This does not reflect a good understanding. Success means having more children, not having any children.
It's extremely tiring to have to write informal comments while couching them in all kinds of caveats and clarifications to make them iron-clad and beyond reproach by even the most persistent of nitpickers. It makes pleasant conversation impossible.
And for what? Instead of focusing on the question I actually asked, you decided to correct me on something tangential for meaningless internet cred.
Sort of. Whether the snake is poisonous is unrelated to its success, because it dies upon being eaten whether there are consequences to its predator or not. (The article takes some pains to show that this is untrue of the newts, but not the snakes.)
However,
> the snakes living long enough to pass their genes (i. e. being successful in terms of natural selection)
This does not reflect a good understanding. Success means having more children, not having any children.