Final answer:
The idea of biological evolution was first proposed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in the late 1700s, predating Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection presented in the mid-1800s.
Step-by-step explanation:
The idea of biological evolution was first proposed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a French naturalist, in the late 1700s. Lamarck is best known for having developed an early theory of macroevolution and the now obsolete idea of the inheritance of acquired characteristics. Although Darwin’s name is most often associated with evolution, it was Lamarck who initially laid down a conceptual foundation for the theory's existence.
Charles Darwin later expanded on the concept of evolution and provided systematic evidence in his 1859 publication On the Origin of Species. Darwin presented the now well-accepted theory of evolution by natural selection. While Lamarck’s mechanism for evolution has been discredited, it played a pivotal role in the development of evolutionary thought that Darwin and other scientists expanded upon.