Lamarck theory: what is, example and importance

Lamarck’s theory is a scientific theory about the evolution of species, also known as Transformismterm that gives us a clue what the theory is about.

He suggested that organisms evolve from simpler ones, because they always tend to greater complexity, in order to have a greater adaptation to different environments.

In this theory The environment is the one that modifies organismsbefore those who have to transform by the new needs that are demanded of them, resulting in new species.

Lamarck’s theory of evolution is based on two principles:

• Law of use and disuse: According to different environmental conditions, certain organs will be more used, or less used, and this will determine that they develop or atrophic. This includes the development of new organs.
• Character inheritance law acquired by environmental influence: The characters modified by the environment are inherited to the next generation.

However, today we know that this is not entirely true, because changing a physical characteristic in an organism, the next generation will not inherit it. For example, if someone dyes blond hair, their children will not be born blond. Thus, the acquired characters are not inheritable. It is useful to distinguish between the concepts of acquired charactersof the inheritable variable characters.

Although today we know that evolution does not work exactly as Lamarck raised it, the theory is important because It is the basis of all the theories of evolution. He was the one who made The first evolutionary theory. Without it, it could not have approached the most likely theory, because it was making its way in the study of change in species.

He Lamarckism determined that Organisms gradually changea novel and controversial idea for your time. He was the first to deny the invariability of the species, that is, that all species are really constantly changing.

On the other hand, something that Lamarck was right was that The environment modifies species. They do not have been born, but happens over time through several generations, but this approach was key in the history of science.

Lamarck explained his theory with the example of giraffe neckthat supposed that they came from antelopes that were modified in giraffes by environmental conditions, through the use and disuse of their necks.

He suggested that by drought the giraffes They needed to stretch their necks to reach the treetop. That was doneand the neck had to stretch more and morepassing the new character acquired by environmental pressures to the next generation. This would be born with the neck longest than that of the parents. Following this precept, the next generation would have the neck longer than the previous one, evolving one generation to another with longer and longer necks.

If you want to know these animal animals better, we invite you to read these other articles about the tongue of giraffes: color and how much measures and how many hearts a giraffe has.

Lamarck’s theory was retaken when Darwin talked about Natural selectionso it is pertinent to consider the differences between them.

The Darwin’s theory It is based on natural selection, where organisms with certain useful characteristics in certain environmental conditions will be selected and survive, but those that are not suitable and that lack these morphological advantages will die. On the contrary, Lamarck proposed that the adaptive characteristic was obtained and inherited, but Darwin’s theory dictates that it is selected, more than caused by the environment directly, as they are The inherited variations that give advantages to the body.

Here you can read more about what natural selection and examples are.

• Jean-Baptiste Lamarck He was born in 1744 in BazentinFrance.
• In 1761 he entered the army, but an accident, which at the time seemed an unfortunate career change, led him to leave him to devote an accounting work.
• Eventually he was interested in science, and studied Studies in Medicine. Then he opted for Botanywhich gave him the training to be an observer naturalist of his environment. Published Zoology Treaties of invertebrates, paleontology, meteorology, and botany.
• He began working for 1778 at the Garden Dies Plants, in Paris, and turns it into a museum, which today is open to the public and retains a monument to Lamarck. Here it becomes Invertebrate specialist professorand begins to outline his theory of evolution.
• In 1809 zoological philosophy is published, where it appears formally The transformist theory.
• Was very criticized to suggest The theory of evolutionbecause at the time it was believed that all beings had been created from the beginning by divine forces definitively, without going through changes.
• At the end of his life he depended on his daughters for the writing of his treaties, for a blindness that increased over time, until He died in 1829.

As you have already known more about what Lamarck’s theory is, its example and importance, as well as its differences with Darwin’s theory about evolution, we encourage you to read this other article about the origin and evolution of animals.

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