Evolution is a process by which species change over the years. Various views explaining how evolution takes place have been proposed by scientists across the decades. Though most of these theories have been discarded, those of two scientists have been
supported by different segments of the scientific community.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed the theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics to explain the process of evolution. It
suggests that an organism can change itself willfully and pass on the acquired characteristics to the next generation or its
offspring. Individuals develop traits that are useful and discard others that are not according to a predefined plot. Lamarck
combined these two thoughts in his theory and substantiated them by evidence. One piece of evidence cited by him was that of
the giraffe's long neck. He said that giraffes stretched their necks to reach leaves on branches of high trees, and this gradually
lengthened their necks over time. This acquired trait of a long neck was inherited by their offspring, and thus all giraffes now
have long necks.
If you were to debate Lamarck today about his theory, what core concept in biology would you rely on?