Much maligned Lamarck was one of the greats

 


His full name, Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), is not familiar to most people, they, those hoards of biology 101 students, just know him as Lamarck.

Lamarck is best known to biology students as the guy who screwed up the mechanism for evolution in 1809. The use or disuse model, with the inheritance of aquired characters. A few points on this:


First, this is how science is supposed to proceed. Ideas get proposed, and over time get solidified or thrown out. 


As Francis Crick stated, most hypothesis are wrong. However, if they were not proposed than the wrongness would not have been determined. As Neil deGrasse Tyson has said, 


The scientific method is doing its best to be wrong—until it's not.


Lamarck did understand that organisms changed over time, that is that evolution occurred, long before most of his contempararies. We should remember Lamarck for his accomplishments, including his attempt at the mechanisms of evolution. Here is a quick timeline of his life:


Fought for France in Seven Years' War with Prussia (Essentially Germany). 1760 ish.


Studied medicine for a few years. Gave it up to pursue botany. 


His first publication in 1776 was in chemistry.


By 1778 he was diving info botany with a publication on French flora, Flore française. He emphasized classification. 


In 1801, he published Système des animaux sans vertèbres, a major work on the classification of invertebrates, a term which he coined.


In an 1802 publication he became one of the first to use the term "biology" in its modern sense. In this publication he introduced the idea of a natural, gradual progression in organism complexity; a precursor to his evolutionary ideas


Also in 1802 he published Hydrogéologie proposing that water and environmental conditions shaped Earth's surface over time. 


In 1809 he published the text, Philosophie zoologique, presenting his theory of evolution through use/disuse and inheritance of acquired traits; laid the groundwork for later evolutionary biology. 


Then he published a series of works on invetebrates: Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres 1815–1822.

This monumental 7-volume work classifying and describing invertebrates; introduced the term "invertebrates" and developed detailed taxonomy.             


In his book Système analytique des connaissances positives de l’homme in 1820. He reflected on human knowledge, perception, and reasoning; and attempted to place human understanding in a naturalistic framework.         


He is remembered, among malacologist, as a taxonomist of considerable stature.


What an accomplished dude…stop dissing on him. 


Sources and Further Reading:


Lamarck, J. B. 1914. Zoological Philosophy. London.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Chilean Sea Bass Please

Image
I recently saw an article about Pepperidge Farm changing the name of their snack crackers from Goldfish to Chilean Sea Bass. I am no marketing guru, but indeed, what a lousy choice.   They changed the cracker’s name, temporarily (Oct 2024), to appeal to adults, seemingly by using a name concocted to dupe people into eating the  Patagonian Toothfish,  Dissostichus eleginoides.  Also known as, Chilean Sea Bass.    This deep-living species is found at depths between 45 and 3,850 meters (150 and 12,600 feet), typically in cold waters between 1°C and 4°C. These are long-lived fish, reaching maturity from between 11 and 17 years, reaching an old age of more than 50 years.   The currently fishery for the Patagonian Toothfish hauls in 50,000 metric tons of fish a year. Patagonian toothfish typically range from  7 to 15 kilograms (kg)  each, depending on their age and region. So this is, back of the envelope calculation assigning 10 kg per fish, about...
Read more

Flatworm Fiesta

Image
In 2014, a giant discovery was made regarding the terrestrial planarians   Bipalium adventitium   and   B. kewense . Tetrodotoxin, a highly potent neurotoxin, was recorded in these species.  This marked the first instance of tetrodotoxin in terrestrial invertebrates, underscoring the potential danger these species pose. Tetrodotoxin had previously been found in many marine organisms, including the Blue-ringed octopus, and is named after its initial discovery in pufferfish species, which belong to the order Tetraodontiformes. The name of this order is due to the form of the beak, which looks like 4 (tetra), teeth (odont): Formes means shape.   These worms, known as shovel-headed garden worms or hammerhead worms, are predators of other worm species, such as earthworms. A  Bipalium  worm. Specific species are identified by their distinctive coloration, which often features colored bands and blotches. The one pictured here (stolen from thoughtco.com) has a...
Read more

Acadia forests: Everything is changing.

Image
    David Byrne had it wrong; it’s not the same as it ever was. Everything is changing.   The woods of Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island are amazing. You can hike from a granite-topped bald hill into the trees and in seconds be enveloped in darkness. If you spend some time hiking around this isle of many trails, you will find differences in the forest. Besides the apparent change from woodlands to bald hill tops, the forested zone has some distinct clusters of tree species. There is the dark woodland of conifers, contrasted by the birch and aspen bunches.    Pre-European forests on Mount Desert Island (MDI) were dominated by the cold-adapted spruce-fir forests (Balsam Fir is typical along the Maine coast): these forests housed spruce grouse, red-backed voles, providing food and cover. The squirrels and chipmunks take advantage of the energy packed in the cone. While many bird species, such as the Blackburnian Warbler, Boreal Chickadee, and wrens, take ...
Read more