Although Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's work was important in the development of evolutionary thought, he was wrong because he believed that characteristics were initially _____.

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Exploring the question about Lamarck's view on how traits are passed down, we consider what each option implies about inheritance and the mechanism Lamarck proposed.
Option a: acquired. This reflects Lamarck's idea that traits developed during an organism's life—through use or disuse—could be inherited by its offspring. For example, if a giraffe stretched its neck, Lamarck would say the acquired longer neck would be passed on. This concept is why the statement is identified as the historical flaw in Lamarckian theory.
Option b: evolutionary adaptations. This phrase is vague but suggests traits that arise as a response to environmental pressures. While Lamarck did talk about adaptation, the key issue is the origin and transmission mechanism, not the existence of adaptations themselves. By itself, this option doesn’t specify the inheritance mechanism Lamarck proposed, so it’s not the precise answer to why his view was incorrect.
Option c: random. Randomness in evolution is associated more with later Darwinian and modern synthesis ideas (random genetic variation, natural selection). Lamarck did not emphasize random generation of traits as the basis for inheritance; his model was not framed around randomness, but around directed changes from use and need. Therefore, this option misstates the core idea.
Option d: selected for. The phrase implies natural selection acting on preexisting variation, a concept central to Darwin and not to Lamarck. Lamarck did not describe selection acting on random variation; rather, he argued for a direct, non-genetic inheritance of acquired changes. Thus this option contradicts Lamarck’s mechanism.
Option e: behavioral. While behavior can influence what organisms do, Lamarck’s mechanism would not be correctly described as a behavioral inheritance process. Inheritance of behavior is not the standard Lamarckian claim about acquired traits, and this option also does not capture the specific idea of trait transmission via acquired physical changes. Hence it’s not the correct characterization of his view.

BIO 181 (001&002) FALL 2025 FA25: Cumulative Exam 4 covers the most important content from Units 1-4: You can do this!!! : ) [Grade is out of 150/900 pts, the same am't of pts for the active learning "easy points" classwork.]

Although Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's work was important in the development of evolutionary thought, he was wrong because he believed that characteristics were initially _____.

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