UPSC Prelims 2002·GS1·science-and-technology·science and technology

In the context of the organic evolution, the loss of limbs of snakes is explained by the phenomenon of

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  1. Ause and disuse of organsCorrect
  2. Badaptation to living in burrows
  3. Cnatural selection
  4. Dinheritance of acquired characters

Explanation

The correct answer is A because it refers to Jean Baptiste Lamarck s theory of evolution. Lamarck proposed that organs which are used frequently by an organism become more developed, while those that are not used eventually atrophy or disappear. In the case of snakes, their ancestors lived in thick vegetation or narrow burrows where limbs were an obstacle to movement. Over generations, because they stopped using their legs for crawling and instead used their bodies to slither, the limbs gradually weakened and were eventually lost. This is the classic example of the law of use and disuse of organs.
science-and-technology: In the context of the organic evolution, the loss of limbs of snakes is explained by the phenomenon of
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