It is commonly thought today that the theory of evolution originated from Darwin in the
nineteenth century. However, the idea that species mutate over time has been around for a long
time in one form or another. Therefore, by Darwin's time the idea that species change from one
type into another was by no means new, but was rejected by most because the proponents of
evolution could not come up with a satisfactory mechanism that would explain this change.
The most influential evolutionary theories prior to Darwin were those of Lamarck and
Geoffroy St. Hilaire, developed between 1794 an…
