Page 185 - Miracles of The Qur'an Vol. 3
P. 185
Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar)
Lamarck believed that giraffes evolved
from such animals as antelopes. In his
view, the necks of these grass-eating ani-
mals gradually grew longer, and they
eventually turned into giraffes. The laws
of inheritance discovered by Mendel in
1865 proved that it was im-
possible for properties
acquired during life to
be handed on to sub-
sequent generations.
Lamarck’s giraffe
fairy tale was thus
consigned to the
wastebin of history.
another, caused new species to be formed. For instance, he claimed that
giraffes evolved from antelopes; as they struggled to eat the leaves of
high trees, their necks were extended from generation to generation.
Darwin also gave similar examples. In his book The Origin of
Species, for instance, he said that some bears going into water to find
food transformed themselves into whales over time. 147
However, the laws of inheritance discovered by Gregor Mendel
(1822-84) and verified by the science of genetics, which flourished in the
twentieth century, utterly demolished the legend that acquired traits
were passed on to subsequent generations. Thus, natural selection fell
out of favor as an evolutionary mechanism.
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