Who Was the First to Posit the Theory of Evolution?

In 1801, French naturalist Jean Baptiste Lamarck proposed a theory of
evolution - 58 years before Darwin did.

Charles Darwin is known for the theory of evolution he put forth in 1859,
but French naturalist Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de
Lamarck was actually the first person to posit the theory of evolution.
While studying invertebrates, such as spiders and worms, Lamarck noticed
changes in their fossils over time. This led him to develop a theory of
evolution, in which he stated that organisms change in order to survive in
their environments. For example, his theory stated that a giraffe's neck
gradually became longer as it frequently stretched for leaves, and it would
pass the longer neck on to its offspring. Lamarck’s theory was that this
would continue from generation to generation until the species became
“perfect.”
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