EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Lamarckism, a theory of evolution based on the principle that physical changes in organisms during their lifetime-such as greater development of an organ or a part through increased use-could be transmitted to their offspring.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the case of the French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, his name since the end of the nineteenth century has been tightly linked to the idea of the inheritance of acquired characters. This was indeed an idea that he endorsed, but he did not claim it as his own nor did he give it much thought.

Detailed explanation-3: -Lamarck proposed theories like the inheritance of acquired characters, use and disuse, increase in complexity, etc. whereas Darwin proposed theories like inheritance, different survival, species variation, and extinction.

Detailed explanation-4: -In short, Lamarck’s theory was based on two ideas – adaptive change and the inheritance of traits acquired during an individual’s life.

Detailed explanation-5: -Lamarck’s theory was instead driven by a ‘complexifying force’ which drove species to become ever more advanced. Along the way Lamarck argued that inheritance of acquired characteristics allowed organisms to adapt to their particular environments.