Which of the following is NOT one of the five forces of evolution?

The correct choice indicates that heredity is not classified as one of the five forces of evolution. The five primary forces of evolution that drive changes in allele frequencies within populations are genetic drift, natural selection, mutation, gene flow (migration), and sexual selection.

Heredity, on the other hand, refers to the process by which genetic information is passed from parents to offspring. While heredity is essential for the mechanism of evolution, facilitating the transmission of traits over generations, it does not actively drive evolutionary change by itself. Instead, it acts as a foundation for the forces of evolution to operate upon; the traits that are inherited can be affected by the forces of evolution, but heredity itself does not produce evolutionary changes. Thus, while it plays a crucial role in evolution by allowing genetic traits to be passed on, it does not fit in the category of forces that actively shape the evolutionary process.