Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Question 1

Describe why Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was important (2 points)

Answer 1

• was the first person to propose a mechanism for evolutionary change
• the Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics
• his theory influenced psychologists well into the 20th C and Russian biologists into the 1940’s

Question 2

Describe Lamarck’s theory of evolution

Answer 2

1. Environmental changes produce new habits
2. New habits produce physical changes (law of use and disuse)
3. Physical changes are heritable: inheritance of acquired characteristics