The exact mechanisms underpinning evolution were a mystery, as were the curious forces that shape an embryo as it grows in the womb. So, there is a relationship between embryology and evolution, but in a way that’s far more intricate than Haeckel could ever have known.īack in the days of Haeckel and Darwin, nobody knew about DNA or genes. Rather than re-working evolution in the womb, biologists now believe that these kinds of common structures in early embryos are evidence of our shared evolutionary origins. In fact, these are pharyngeal arches, which form the basis of structures like facial bones in mammals, but do indeed go on to become gills in fish. Haeckel thought that we went through a 'fish' stage in the womb because our embryos appear to have gills during early development. But it’s undeniable that human embryos do look awfully similar to other species, at least in the early stages of life. Haeckel’s theory that human embryos pass through stages of development that recapitulate our evolutionary history has subsequently been proved incorrect.
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