The goal of this paper is to design and implement an efficient data dissemination algorithm for wireless sensor networks. The proposed approach requires nodes in a network to publish their characteristics to their neighboring nodes. Each node selects its parent node for data forwarding using a method similar to natural selection. Fitness score for selection is locally calculated considering several characteristics of a neighboring node such as: battery level, distance, and hierarchy level. The main goal of this algorithm is to extend the wireless sensor network lifetime by distributing the traffic load among the nodes that have higher probabilities of predicted survival, which is identified by their fitness score. In addition, this approach can provide a framework to study the emergent behaviors of networks when different local rules for node selection are applied.