It was supported by Étienne Geoffroy Saint - Hilaire and became a prominent part of his ideas which suggested that past transformations of life could have had environmental causes working on the embryo , rather than on the adult as in Lamarckism .
It was supported by Étienne Geoffroy Saint - Hilaire , and became a prominent part of his ideas . 
 It suggested that past transformations of life could have been through environmental causes working on the embryo , rather than on the adult as in Lamarckism .