Stronger, Faster, We Have The Adapdability

8 Pages 1958 Words

its. Also included in his evolutionary theory are four important principles: Life tends to increase the size of an organism, not just its overall size, but every part. Each organ is there for a specific need or want that was once in the environment. Organs are like muscles, the more they are used and worked out the stronger and more developed they become; conversely, the less they are needed the smaller and weaker they become. Finally, all of an organism's traits are acquired by its parents through heredity. “Habit constitutes a second nature and produces two types of modifications, one by means of progression or development and the other by means of regression or degeneration” (Comas, 57). Lamarck’s model for evolution can be shown to apply for humans very easily. For example, a tree dwelling ancestor of the modern human would have opposable thumbs on both his hands and his feet, for climbing. After several generations of just using feet for walking, the opposable thumb on the feet would not be used and slowly shrink until it becomes just another digit. Lamarck has a very logical theory that is simple and easy to follow. Nature presents a challenge and then individuals try and adapt to overcome and live the rest of their lives. The best thing about Lamarck’s theory is how it makes adaptation and evolution...