Question

Explain Lamarck’s Principle.

Answer 1

1. Lamarckism is the theory of inheritance of acquired characters from one generation to another, given by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.
2. It states that the morphological changes occurring in living organisms are responsible for evolution. This concept was based on the principle of use and disuse of organs.
3. Morphological changes may occur gradually, either due to specific activities or the laziness of a particular organism.
4. For e.g. Browsing on leaves of tall plants caused the neck of the giraffe to become long; frequent hammering movements cause the shoulders of ironsmith to become strong; inactivity caused weakening of the wings of birds like emu; legs of swans and ducks have become useful for swimming due to living in water; due to burrowing habits, snakes have lost their legs; etc.