What does an element selector in CSS target?

An element selector in CSS specifically targets HTML elements by their tag names, allowing developers to apply styles universally to all instances of a particular type of element within a document. For example, if you use an element selector for <p>, it would apply the specified styles to every paragraph element on the page.

This method is foundational in CSS because it enables styles to be consistently applied across similar elements without requiring additional classes or IDs. Unlike class selectors, which focus on specific groups of elements with the same class attribute, or ID selectors that target unique elements with a specific ID, the element selector directly affects all instances of the chosen HTML tag. This broad applicability makes the element selector a powerful tool for styling in web development.