PHILOSOPHIE ZOOLOGIQUE - 200:LAMARCK IN RETROSPECT

摘要

J. B. Lamarck is considered as one of the renowned evolutionists. He was the first scientist to explain evolution as a vertical phenomenon and considered man as the end product of evolution. Lamarck, originally a believer in constant world, became an evolutionist after studying the fossil and recent mollusks of France in the year 1799. Lamarck published his book Philosophie Zoologique in 1809 and is being misunderstood till today. It is time to evaluate Lamarckian perception from present day concepts of evolution. The paper depicts his personal life, his emergence as an evolutionist, his contribution on evolution, and post-Lamarckian discussions. Moreover, Lamarckism is analyzed from the angle of various inheritance systems. The idea of Lamarck is also addressed in the light of Baldwin effect, genetic assimilation, somatic selection hypothesis, internal selection, gene duplication, and evolutionary novelties. Lastly, an evolutionary model is proposed to elucidate Lamarckian concept based on the contributions on modern evolutionary modalities.