Difference between revisions of "Jean-Baptiste Lamarck"
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'''Jean Baptiste Lamarck''' was a [[French]] [[naturalist]] who proposed one of the first theories of evolution. He postulated that an animal was able to change a characteristic during its lifetime depending on its behaviour, and that these changes would be passed onto its offspring resulting in speciation. For instance, if a giraffe attempted to eat the leaves off the top of a tree it would be constantly stretching its neck, resulting in both a longer neck for itself and that this characteristic would be passed onto its young. | '''Jean Baptiste Lamarck''' was a [[French]] [[naturalist]] who proposed one of the first theories of evolution. He postulated that an animal was able to change a characteristic during its lifetime depending on its behaviour, and that these changes would be passed onto its offspring resulting in speciation. For instance, if a giraffe attempted to eat the leaves off the top of a tree it would be constantly stretching its neck, resulting in both a longer neck for itself and that this characteristic would be passed onto its young. | ||
| − | Lamarck's theory was fundamentally flawed in that it could not explain the contradictions in observations, for instance a | + | Lamarck's theory was fundamentally flawed in that it could not explain the contradictions in observations, for instance a dog with a lobbed tail would not give birth to puppies without tails. Further research into [[DNA]] demonstrated the mechanisms by which characteristics were passed on, invariably disproving the theory. As such it receives no support from mainstream science. |
{{DEFAULTSORT: Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste}} | {{DEFAULTSORT: Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste}} | ||
[[Category:Biologists]] | [[Category:Biologists]] | ||
Revision as of 00:44, November 10, 2007
Jean Baptiste Lamarck was a French naturalist who proposed one of the first theories of evolution. He postulated that an animal was able to change a characteristic during its lifetime depending on its behaviour, and that these changes would be passed onto its offspring resulting in speciation. For instance, if a giraffe attempted to eat the leaves off the top of a tree it would be constantly stretching its neck, resulting in both a longer neck for itself and that this characteristic would be passed onto its young.
Lamarck's theory was fundamentally flawed in that it could not explain the contradictions in observations, for instance a dog with a lobbed tail would not give birth to puppies without tails. Further research into DNA demonstrated the mechanisms by which characteristics were passed on, invariably disproving the theory. As such it receives no support from mainstream science.