Jean Baptiste de Monet Lamarck chevalier de

Lamarck, Jean Baptiste de Monet, chevalier de (1744–1829), French biologist whose pioneering work in taxonomy (especially that of the invertebrates) led him to formulate an early theory of evolution. Where Darwin was to propose natural selection as a mechanism for evolutionary change, Lamarck theorized that organisms could develop new organs in response to their need for them and that these acquired characteristics could be inherited. His theory is known as Lamarckism.

See also: Biology; Evolution.