Lamarckism was developed by John-Baptiste Lamarck, a French Biologist. He believed that physical characteristics that animals needed to survive were decided by whether or not the characteristic was used or not. He also believed that this trait would then be passed on to it's offspring. The classic example of Lamarck's theory is that if a giraffe did not have a neck long enough to reach it's food, it would stretch it's neck and eventually its neck would stretch to a point where it could reach the food, then it would pass this on to it's offspring. This can be disproved by the study of DNA. Lamarckism implies that DNA can be changed from one generation to the next however now we know that the only way that DNA can be changed is by change mutations. Traits also cannot be passed on to offspring unless the gene sequence of the sex cells. Physical characteristics are not passed on but a gene can be passed on by the trait. Recent studies on genetics disprove lamarckism.[]
