Question

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What are the 2 assumptions of Lamarckism?

Answer 1

Lamarckism also called "Theory of inheritance of acquired characters" was given by Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck popularly called Lamarck.

The two assumptions are :

i) The use and disuse of the organs : The organs of the body that are used often become elongated and develops well with time. The organs that are not used get weakened , smaller and gradually disappear (vestigial)

ii) The inheritance of acquired traits : The characteristics or traits that are acquired by an individual during his life gets transmitted to his offspring.


Hope This Helps You!

Answer 2

Lamarck in his theory of evolution:-

Incorporated two ideas ( you can say these as assumptions) :-

(1) Use versus Disuse :-
He theorized( please note that it's not based on any practical) that individuals lose characteristics which they don't use and develop characteristics that are of use, just to adapt themselves as per the need of circumstances or conditions in which they live.

(2) Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics:- Again was not practical:- He argued that Acquired characters (like development of muscles in Blacksmith) were heritable .
These were the two assumption at the time of Lamarck's theory called as Lamarckism.

BUT now it has been proved that As the name suggests,
The Acquired characters are developed in the somatic cells and not in germ cells So Acquired Characteristics ( Phenotype) can't be inherited to next generation.

So, on today, we can say that the theory of Acquired characters is not feasible in modern time,when, we are talking about genetic engineering.

I have explained the assumptions of Lamarck together with it's relevance at present time, hoping it to be helpful for the students learning Genetics and Evolution. Thanks