Tuesday, August 24, 2010

If embryonic development is compared in different organisms, does it reflect evolutionary relationships?

If embryonic development is compared in different organisms, does it reflect evolutionary relationships? Give two examples.If embryonic development is compared in different organisms, does it reflect evolutionary relationships?
Absolutely. For example, one characters of chordates (NOT vertebrates) is that we all have pharyngeal gill slits at some point in our development. Humans do have gills, but only in our embryonic stage, and then they dissapear.





At some point in their development all chordates have a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal.


Depending on the organism some of these dissapear during the embryonic stage or at some point in life.


Most humans are born without a tail because it usually dissapears sometime during embryonic development.

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