write short note on lamarckism
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Lamarckism is the hypothesis that an organism can pass on characteristics that it has acquired during its lifetime to its offspring. It is also known as theinheritance of acquired characteristics orsoft inheritance. It is named after the Frenchbiologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829), who incorporated the action of soft inheritance into his evolutionary theories as a supplement to his concept of orthogenesis, a drive towards complexity. Lamarck did not originate the idea of soft inheritance, which was known from the classical era onwards, nor was it the primary focus of his theory of evolution.
Studies in the field of epigenetics and somatic hypermutation have highlighted the possible inheritance of behavioral traits acquired by the previous generation.[3][4][5][6][7]This remains controversial as science historians have asserted that it is inaccurate to describe transgenerational epigenetic inheritance as a form of Lamarckism.
Answer:
Lamarckism consists of two theories 1. use or disuse of organs 2. inheritance of aquired characters
Further he said that the neck of girraffe has become too long due to browing on leaves of tall plants by extending their neck for several generations; similarly shoulders of the ironsmith have become very strong due to frequent hammering movements. Wings of birds like ostrich and emu have become weak due to no use. Legs of the birds like swan and duck have become useful for swimming due to living in water and snakes have lost their legs by modification in their body for burrowing habit. All these1 examples are the types of acquired characters and are transferred from one to another generation. This is called as theory of inheritance of acquired characters or Lamarckism.