Page 140 - The Errors the American National Academy of Sciences

The Errors of the American National Academy of Sciences

a bit in their appearance and developmental pathway. "It
(Haeckel's drawings) looks like it's turning out to be one of the most
famous fakes in biology," Richardson concludes. 11

aeckel's Deception Regarding the Earliest
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H Ha e c k e l l ' ' s s D e c e p t t i i o n R e g a r r d i i n g t t h e E a r r l l i i e s s t t
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R
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H Haeckel's Deception Regarding the Earliest
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E Embryo Stages
E Em b r y o S t t a g e s
mbryo Stages
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Haeckel suggested that embryos resembled each other more
closely in the early stages of development. The fact is, however, that
his drawings do not include the early stages, but rather begin at the
middle stages of development. There are considerable differences be-
tween them in the early stages.
Let us examine the first stages of the vertebrate embryos and the
forms they take in order to see this deception. When an animal egg is
fertilized, it first undergoes a process known as "cell division." At the
end of division, the cells begin to move and organize themselves in a
second process known as "gastrulation," which is more important
than division with regard to the general emergence of body plan, tis-
sue type, and organ systems.
After division and gastrulation, a vertebrate embryo enters the
stage referred to by Haeckel as
the "first phase." If, as Haeckel
claimed, vertebrates pos-
sessed the greatest similarity
CELL DIVISION
during the earliest phase of
their development, then dif-
ferent classes would resemble
each other most closely dur-
ing division and gastrulation.
However, research into the
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