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Why ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.

S Ohno
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Abstract

In development, mammalian embryos successively develop notochord, somites, gill pouches and three sets of kidneys: pronephros, mesonephros and metanephros. Hence, Ernst Haeckel's dictum "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny." The reason for this dictum appears to be the immortality of genes. Genes, once well entrenched, appear to linger for a long time even after the forfeiture of their raison d'être. The genes for dental enamel and dentin of the chicken are good examples. Furthermore, genes once doomed may resurrect themselves. For example, genes for red and green opsins of higher primates arose as alleles of the once doomed but resurrected red opsin locus.

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Amino Acid SequenceAnimalsChick EmbryoEmbryonic and Fetal DevelopmentGenomeHumansMolecular Sequence DataPhylogenyPloidiesSequence Homology, Amino AcidVertebratesJournal Article

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BibTeXRIS

S Ohno. 1995. Why ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.. https://doi.org/10.1002/elps.11501601295

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