Evolution

• Evolution - the process of cumulative change in the heritable characteristics of a population overtime.
• Lamarckism (use and disuse)- structures that are used frequently and continuously will strengthen and develop, while structures that are not used will weaken and deteriorate.
• Lamarckism (inheritance and acquired characteristics) - the physical changes to the structures of an organism that result from use/disuse during their lifetime are inherited by its offspring.
• Darwin (natural selection) - heritable variations (not acquired) that benefits an individual's survival and reproduction are passed to offspring, so that over generations, the frequency of the beneficial variation increases in the population.
• Paradigm shift - Lamarck's proposal of inheritance of acquired characteristics as the mechanism of evolution was superseded by Darwin's argument for evolution by natural selection. This is because of the cells that are involved in reproduction (the germline cells) are distinct from those that makeup the rest of the body (the somatic cells); only changes that affect the germline can be passed on.