Editing Atavism (section)

===Social Darwinism===
{{more citations needed section|date=May 2023}}
During the interval between the acceptance of [[evolution]] in the mid-1800s and the rise of the modern understanding of [[genetics]] in the early 1900s, atavism was used to account for the reappearance in an individual of a trait after several generations of absence—often called a "throw-back".{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} The idea that atavisms could be made to accumulate by [[selective breeding]], or [[breeding back]], led to breeds such as [[Heck cattle]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} This had been bred from ancient [[landrace]]s with selected primitive traits, in an attempt of "reviving" the [[aurochs]], an [[extinct]] species of wild cattle.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} The same notions of atavisms were used by [[social Darwinism|social Darwinists]], who claimed that "inferior" races displayed atavistic traits, and represented more primitive traits than other races.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} Both atavism's and [[Ernst Haeckel]]'s [[recapitulation theory]] are related to [[evolutionary progress]], as development towards a greater complexity and a superior ability.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}}

In addition, the concept of atavism as part of an individualistic explanation of the causes of criminal deviance was popularised by the Italian criminologist [[Cesare Lombroso]] in the 1870s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/lombroso.htm |title=Lombroso and the pathological perspective can be traced back to the 19th century following a history of demonic and classical perspectives |publisher=Criminology.fsu.edu |date=2000-11-27 |access-date=2013-12-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923231227/http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/lombroso.htm |archive-date=2013-09-23 }}</ref> He attempted to identify physical characteristics common to criminals and labeled those he found as atavistic, 'throw-back' traits that determined 'primitive' criminal behavior. His statistical evidence and the closely related idea of [[eugenics]] have long since been abandoned by the scientific community, but the concept that physical traits may affect the likelihood of criminal or unethical behavior in a person still has some scientific support.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Haselhuhn | first1 = M. P. | last2 = Wong | first2 = E. M. | title = Bad to the bone: Facial structure predicts unethical behaviour | doi = 10.1098/rspb.2011.1193 | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society B| year = 2011 | pmid = 21733897 | volume=279 | issue=1728 | pages=571–576| pmc = 3234568 }}</ref>