Objections to Darwinism
While the ideas of Darwin, related to reproductive capability,
prevalence of variations, concept of struggle and survival of suitable forms
are all commonly accepted, there are certain drawbacks in his original theory.
1. Darwin could not explain, the origin and cause for variations while insisting
their importance in progressive evolution.
2. He overemphasized the importance of the ‘fittest’ organisms. During later
periods it has been suggested that ‘fit’ and fitter forms can also exist along
with the fittest.
3. As the principle of inheritance as explained in the later years were not
available during Darwin’s time. Hence he believed in the theory of
‘pangenesis’. According to this concept from every organ in the body very
minute such replicate structures will orginate. Later they are transferred to
the gonads for transmission to future generations.
4. ‘Over-specialization’ as in Irish deer and its consequent harmful effect on
animals had not been accounted for by Darwin.
Neo-Darwinism
A modified form of Darwinism is known as neo-Darwinism. It was
developed due to acceptance of Darwinism and provision of several
evidences in support of Natural Selection concept. The early
neo-Darwinians were T.H. Huxley of England, Asa Gray of United States
and E.Haeckel of Germany.
The neo-Darwinians differentiated the germplasm from somatoplasm
and proposed the ‘germplasm concept’. They also belived that characters
are due to certain factors called the determinants that control the
development. The neo-Darwinism concept was incomplete and erroneous.
It lacked in an understanding of genetics as it is known in later periods.
Related Topics in Zoology:
Bio Zoology All Important Topics
- Livestock and Management
- Important cattle breeds and their characteristics
- Milch breeds (or) Dairy breeds
- Dual purpose breeds & Draught breeds
- Exotic breeds of cattle
- Common diseases and control in Cattle – Contagious diseases
- Non-contagious diseases – Cattle
- Techniques adopted in cattle breeding
- Poultry Breeds
- Farming methods
- Poultry byproducts
- Fish Pond
- Edible Fishes Of Tamilnadu
- Medical Lab Techniques – Stethoscope
- Sphygmomanometer
- Haemocytometer
- Urine Sugar analysis
- ECG Electrocardiogram
- Computed Tomography CT
- Endoscopy (Laproscopy) techniques , Artificial Pacemaker
- Autoanalyser