What did lamarck think evolution involved that caused his idea to be incorrect?

Answer 1

Lamarck's folly was that he thought evolution was caused by acquired traits being passed down from parent to offspring. An acquired trait is one which an organism acquires during its lifetime. This theory would suggest that a bodybuilder, who has bulked up during the course of his or her life, could pass a super-muscular physique on to the next generation. Of course we know this is not the case. The only way the bodybuilder's child is going to have a super-muscular physique is if the child also becomes a bodybuilder. The bodybuilder's child could even sit around all day eating Cheetos and playing Video Games, resulting in a very different physique from his or her parents.

Darwin's theory of evolution, the correct one, tells us that evolution is caused by inherited traits passed from parent to offspring. If a parent is naturally more muscular than average, this is a trait resulting from his or her genetics, and its possible that the child will inherit this genetic makeup and also be more muscular than average.

Answer 2

Lamarck believed that organisms evolved toward perfection. Unlike other scientists, he did not believe that organisms went extinct; instead he believed they must have evolved into different forms. For example, he believed that the long necked giraffe got their long neck by how they reach for tall trees and they eventually grew into their long necks.

If the species required more food to survive, and saw the lush offerings high above, and there was a competition for food, then this would happen.

Imagine if a giraffe has a slightly taller neck than the rest of its species, a variation. This giraffe would therefore be more likely to survive because it is able to reach more food which no one else can reach so it has the food for itself.

Let's say then that a drought happens, and there is a lack of vegetation which only exists in the large trees which stored lots of water. Hundreds of the species would have died out and been unable to reproduce.

HOWEVER, since there is one giraffe with that slightly taller neck that is able to reach more food than the others and thus survive, it lives and therefore is able to reproduce.

Eventually, the gene is passed down to its second generation and so on, and the giraffes with the small neck either too evolve to reach this high vegetation or die out, AKA, extinction.

Over time, necks get longer and longer in order to reach more and more food. Evolution stops however when a species has evolved to such an extent that evolution would be entirely unnecessary or dangerous.

Answer 3

Lamarck's folly was that he thought evolution was caused by acquired traits being passed down from parent to offspring. An acquired trait is one which an organism acquires during its lifetime. This theory would suggest that a bodybuilder, who has bulked up during the course of his or her life, could pass a super-muscular physique on to the next generation. Of course we know this is not the case. The only way the bodybuilder's child is going to have a super-muscular physique is if the child also becomes a bodybuilder. The bodybuilder's child could even sit around all day eating Cheetos and playing Video Games, resulting in a very different physique from his or her parents.

Darwin's theory of evolution, the correct one, tells us that evolution is caused by inherited traits passed from parent to offspring. If a parent is naturally more muscular than average, this is a trait resulting from his or her genetics, and its possible that the child will inherit this genetic makeup and also be more muscular than average.