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If Lamark and Darwin had debated why giraffes have such long necks how would their explanations differed?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Lamarck would have said that the ancestors of
modern-day giraffes had short necks but stretched
their necks as they tried to reach leaves in trees; so,
their descendants were born with longer necks.
Darwin would have said that in a population of
ancestral giraffes, some had slightly longer necks
than others; the long-necked giraffes were better
able to feed on tree leaves and as a result produced
more offspring. Over time, the proportion of longnecked
giraffes in the population increased.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
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Who believed the early giraffes had short necks?
Charles Darwin
What is the significance of Darwin's observation about the difference in Finch populations?
They differed depending on what island they were on.
Darwin observed that the small brown birds on the Galapagos Islands differed in the shape of their?
beaks
What was one of the adaptations that Darwin noted?
He saw that the animals differed slightly among the islands. He saw lizards that differed from the mainland of Africa. They had sharper and longer claws, perfect for staying on the rocks on the shores.
What did Darwin study on the Galapagos's islands?
Certain species, and how they differed from one island to another; in this case, specifically, finches and tortoises.
Why did Darwin believe that only a small number of offspring survive?
It wasn't exactly that. Darwin believed that species evolved through natural selection. Meaning the individual that's best suited for the environment survives. So for example giraffes. As the food started getting harder and harder to reach only giraffes with longer necks would survive. Hence giraffes have freakishly long necks now
Darwin and Lamarck had different ideas about why all giraffes now have long necks why?
Lamarck would have said that the ancestors of modern-day giraffes had short necks but stretched their necks as they tried to reach leaves in trees; so, their descendants were born with longer necks. Darwin would have said that in a population of ancestral giraffes, some had slightly longer necks than others; the long-necked giraffes were better able to feed on tree leaves and as a result produced more offspring. Over time, the proportion of longnecked giraffes in the population increased.
Modern scientific explanations of evolution?
That no species is stable, and that all species become extinct in time. That includes us.
Why did Darwin think giraffes are a good example of natural selections?
Actually, it was Lamarck who earlier introduced the giraffe as an example for evolution - Lamarckian evolution, to be sure. Lamarck proposed that there was some mechanism by which the short-necked ancestors of giraffes could acquire a change such that their offspring would have necks better suited to their needs. Darwin applied natural selection to the same example mainly because it had already been discussed in such detail.
What did Darwin infer from his observation of organisms in the south America and the galapagos island?
He noticed that species similar to others in other parts of the world differed from the ones he saw on that isolated island. They had adapted to their environment.
How were lamarck's beliefs different from Darwin's?
Lamarcks theory was accepted during Darwin's life, stated that an orgnisims use or disuse of an organ lead to its refinment. That parents could pass on traits acquired during its life to its offspring. Darwin stated that changes in offspring were random and could not be modified by the parents actions. Evolution was still the same, changes accumulating over time, but how those changes came about, through the organisim its self, lamark, or randomly Darwin.
What was the importance of Darwin?
Darwin's theory, which is no longer just Darwin's, is the bedrock on which the modern discipline of Biology rests. All the disparate observations that naturalists made up to the time of Darwin suddenly had explanations. The species problem, how species arise, was, basically solved. Predictions from the theory could now be made and tested, just as they are made and tested today. " Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. " Dobzanski
