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BY The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica | View Edit History
Lamarckism, a theory of evolution based on the principle that physical changes in organisms during their lifetime—such as greater development of an organ or a part through increased use—could be transmitted to their offspring. The doctrine, proposed by the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1809, influenced evolutionary thought through most of the 19th century. Lamarckism was discredited by most geneticists after the 1930s, but certain of its ideas continued to be held in the Soviet Union into the mid-20th century.
