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Jean Baptiste Lamarck

Brief Description and Background

Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck was the born the north of France on August 1, 1744. Lamarck was the youngest of eleven children and came form a military background. After leaving the military he became a bank clerk and studied medicine and botany.

Outline the theory

Law of use and disuse. In every animal which has not passed the limit of its development, a more frequent and continuous use of any organ gradually strengthens, develops and enlarges that organ, and gives it a power proportional to the length of time it has been so used; while the permanent disuse of any organ imperceptibly weakens and deteriorates it, and progressively diminishes its functional capacity, until it finally disappears. Inheritance of acquired traits. All the acquisitions or losses wrought by nature on individuals, through the influence of the environment in which their race has long been placed, and hence through the influence of the predominant use or permanent disuse of any organ; all these are preserved by reproduction to the new individuals which arise, provided that the acquired modifications are common to both sexes, or at least to the individuals which produce the young.

Observations that prompted the theory

Was prompted by the by the similarities of many of the animals he studied, and was impressed too by the burgeoning fossil record. It led him to argue that life was not fixed. When environments changed, organisms had to change their behavior to survive. If they began to use an organ more than they had in the past, it would increase in its lifetime. If a giraffe stretched its neck for leaves, for example, a "nervous fluid" would flow into its neck and make it longer. Its offspring would inherit the longer neck, and continued stretching would make it longer still over several generations.

Evidence that supported his theory

There is no evidence for Lamarckism with respect to higher organisms that is, there is no evidence that acquired changes are genetically transmitted. some scientists argue that it can be observed among

microorganisms, with induced changes inherited among bacteria and protozoan. There have been cases which have supported Lamarcks views but have been discredited as having been falsified.

What, if any evidence negated the theory

Modern followers of both Lamarck and Darwin agree that species do not change overnight, or even in the course of one lifetime. Darwin theory of evolution neglects Lamarcks theory. His natural selection was pivotal in the history of biological evolution. But the missing part was the deal-breaker. The missing link in Darwins theory of evolution was the mechanism of inheritance.

How was the theory accepted at the time it was proposed Lamarcks theory was once widely accepted idea that an organism can pass on characteristics that it acquired during its lifetime to its offspring. Epigenetic inheritance is thought to be Lamarckian, by some, but this is not widely accepted by evolutionary biologists. The inheritance of acquired characteristics (also called the theory of adaptation), is now widely rejected.

Discuss any relevant individuals or groups that influenced the way the ideas were accepted.

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