1-153-671 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Giraffe browsing on a tree, 1836. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) French naturalist, considered that the giraffe illustrated 'Transformism' (also known as Lamarckism), his theory of evolution which stated that acquired characteristics could be inherited. His theory was rejected by geneticists from the 1930s onwards, except in the Soviet Union, where it continued to be accepted until the 1960s. Lamarck is also credited with being the first to use the term 'biology'.