Lamarck

[luh-mahrk, la-mark]

noun

1. Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet de 1744–1829, French naturalist: pioneer in the field of comparative anatomy.

Lamarck

/ lamark /

noun

1. Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet (ʒɑ̃ batist pjɛr ɑ̃twan də mɔnɛ), Chevalier de Lamarck. 1744–1829, French naturalist. He outlined his theory of organic evolution (Lamarckism) in Philosophie Zoologique (1809)

Lamarck

1. French naturalist who introduced the taxonomic distinction between vertebrates and invertebrates. His theory that the acquired characteristics of a species could be inherited by later generations was a forerunner to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, although it was eventually discredited.

Example Sentences

In their classic theories of evolution, both Jean Baptiste Lamarck and Charles Darwin suggested that giraffes' long necks evolved to help them reach leaves high up in a tree, avoiding competition with other herbivores.

Read more on Science Daily

To biologists, the giraffe’s long neck is a prime example of evolution’s handiwork, cited by both Charles Darwin and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck as support for their evolutionary theories.

Read more on Science Magazine

It was a hoary restatement of Lamarck’s idea—of adaptation morphing directly into hereditary change—decades after geneticists had pointed out the conceptual errors of Lamarckism.

Read more on Literature

Others were the product of imperfect observation, such as Lamarck’s theory that acquired characteristics could be inherited or the theory of spontaneous generation.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The work was initially controversial, as geneticists saw it as a revival of the non-Darwinian ideas of 19th century scientist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.

Read more on Science Magazine