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Jean Lamarck
(Born 1 Aug 1744 - 18 Dec 1829)
Pioneer French biologist and pre-Darwinian evolutionist, born Bazentin, France, best known for his idea that acquired traits are inheritable (Lamarckism), which was replaced by Darwinian theory.
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“It would
be an easy task to show that the characteristics in the organization of
man, on account of which the human species and races are grouped as a
distinct family, are all results of former changes of occupation, and
of acquired habits, which have come to be distinctive of individuals of
his kind. When, compelled by circumstances, the most highly developed
apes accustomed themselves to walking erect, they gained the ascendant
over the other animals. The absolute advantage they enjoyed, and the
new requirements imposed on them, made them change their mode of life,
which resulted in the gradual modification of their organization, and
in their acquiring many new qualities, and among them the wonderful
power of speech.”
— Jean Lamarck (1809)
as quoted in The
Evolution of Man, Vol 1, p.70 (1897)
by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel
by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel