According to a new research conducted by Joel Lehman and his team, evolution may not have actually been based on the "survival of the fittest" theory.

"Survival of the fittest" is a popular theory people of today go by, and for years we have believed that this has been the base of the evolution of mankind. However, scientists suggest this may quite not have been the case.

According to a report by Science Daily, "Evolution is the ability of a population of organisms to not merely generate genetic diversity, but to generate adaptive genetic diversity and evolve through natural selection."

To analysis the process of evolution, researchers created a simulated model to mimic how organisms evolve.

"The algorithms used for the simulations are abstractly based on how organisms are evolved, but not on any particular real-life organism," said lead author Joel Lehman in a news release.

It was discovered that even when species do not compete for food, shelter or other factors, evolvability can increase over generations.

"The explanation is that evolvable organisms separate themselves naturally from less evolvable organisms over time simply by becoming increasingly diverse," said Kenneth O. Stanley, co-author of the paper detailing the study. "When new species appear in the future, they are most likely descendants of those that were evolvable in the past," said Lehman. "The result is that evolvable species accumulate over time even without selective pressure."

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.