Page 160 - The Dark Clan

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The Dark Clan

and transform themselves into another living species, for
instance, horses.
Therefore, the mechanism of natural selection has no evolu-
tionary power. Darwin was also aware of this fact and had to
state this in his book The Origin of Species:
Natural selection can do nothing until favourable individual
differences or variations occur. 28

Lamarck's Impact

So, how could these "favourable varia-
tions" occur? Darwin tried to answer this
question from the standpoint of the prim-
itive understanding of science at that
time. According to the French biologist
Chevalier de Lamarck (1744-1829),
who lived before Darwin, living crea-
tures passed on the traits they acquired
during their lifetime to the next gener-
ation. He asserted that these traits,
which accumulated from one gen-
eration to another, caused new
species to be formed. For
instance, he claimed that
giraffes evolved from
antelopes; as they struggled