How did Darwin and Lamark differ in their thinking about change in species?

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barreraa · Answer

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's thought that animals and plants adapted to their changing surroundings in their lifetime and then passed on these changes to their offspring. The classic example that he cited was a giraffe- he said that a giraffe's neck got longer as it stretched for leaves higher up on trees. This made its neck and bit longer, so its offspring had necks a bit longer too.

Darwin's theory of evolution is basically 'Survival of the Fittest" or "Natural selection." Genetic mutations occur in every species. Sometimes these are beneficial. For example a calf born more muscular than the rest will be more likely to mate and consequently pass on his genes to his offspring.