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An acquired characteristic is a non-heritable change in a function or structure of a living organism caused after birth by disease, injury, accident, deliberate modification, variation, repeated use, disuse, misuse, or other environmental influence. Acquired traits are synonymous with acquired characteristics.
The inheritance of acquired traits also formed a part of early Lamarckian ideas on evolution. [citation needed] During the 18th century, Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723) discovered "animalcules" in the sperm of humans and other animals. [30] Some scientists speculated they saw a "little man" inside each sperm. These ...
Many animals on this second table are at least somewhat altered from wild-type animals due to their extensive interactions with humans, albeit not to the point that they are regarded as distinct forms (therefore, no separate wild ancestors are noted) or would be unable to survive if reintroduced to the wild.
Some abnormal behaviours may be related to environmental conditions (e.g. captive housing) whereas others may be due to medical conditions. The list does not include behaviours in animals that are genetically modified to express abnormal behaviour (e.g. reeler mice). A polar bear performing stereotyped pacing.
Convergent evolution—the repeated evolution of similar traits in multiple lineages which all ancestrally lack the trait—is rife in nature, as illustrated by the examples below. The ultimate cause of convergence is usually a similar evolutionary biome , as similar environments will select for similar traits in any species occupying the same ...
Examples of variations which may be given different values in different societies include skin color and/or body structure. Race and sex have a strong value difference, while handedness has a much weaker value difference. The values given to different traits among human variability are often influenced by what phenotypes are more prevalent ...
When traits are determined by a complex interaction of genotype and environment it is possible to measure the heritability of a trait within a population. However, many non-scientists who encounter a report of a trait having a certain percentage heritability imagine non-interactional, additive contributions of genes and environment to the trait.
For humans, the Big Five personality traits, also known as the five-factor model (FFM) or the OCEAN model, is the prevailing model for personality traits. When factor analysis (a statistical technique) is applied to personality survey data, some words or questionnaire items used to describe aspects of personality are often applied to the same person.