What is Lamarckism?
Q: What is Lamarckism?
A: Lamarckism (also called Lamarckian evolution) is a wrong hypothesis regarding evolution. It was proposed by Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck and tries to explain how species change over time.
Q: How does it differ from the widely accepted theory of evolution?
A: The widely accepted theory of evolution today is that developed from the ideas of Charles Darwin. Lamarckism says that individuals do not only pass on the things they received from their parents, but also some things they experienced during their lifetime. This idea is called the inheritance of acquired characteristics, which differs from Darwin's characteristic idea of natural selection which relates to an individual's relative survival and success in reproduction.
Q: Who was Erasmus Darwin?
A: Erasmus Darwin was the grandfather of Charles Darwin and his ideas were used, to some extent, by Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck when proposing his hypothesis for evolution.
Q: What example did Lamarck use to illustrate his hypothesis?
A: To illustrate his hypothesis, he cited giraffes as an example. He suggested that adults needed to stretch their neck to reach leaves from high branches and therefore children inherited longer necks than their ancestors had possessed before them.
Q: How does Mendelian inheritance contradict Lamarck's hypotheses?
A: Gregor Mendel discovered some basic rules of heredity which contradict Lamarck's hypotheses entirely but are consistent with natural selection instead. This explains why Lamarck's ideas are no longer regarded as a sound explanation for evolution today.
Q: What do both theories agree on?
A: Both theories agree that evolution did take place at some point in time in history.
