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The theory of recapitulation, also called the biogenetic law or embryological parallelism—often expressed using Ernst Haeckel's phrase "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny"—is a historical hypothesis that the development of the embryo of an animal, from fertilization to gestation or hatching (ontogeny), goes through stages resembling or representing successive adult stages in the evolution of the animal's remote ancestors (phylogeny). It was formulated in the 1820s by Étienne Serres based on the work of Johann Friedrich Meckel, after whom it is also known as Meckel–Serres law.
Since embryos also evolve in different ways, the shortcomings of the theory had been recognized by the early 20th century, and it had been relegated to "biological mythology"[1] by the mid-20th century.[2]
Analogies to recapitulation theory have been formulated in other fields, including cognitive development[3] and music criticism.
- ^ Ehrlich, Paul R.; Holm, Richard W.; Parnell, Dennis (1963). The process of evolution. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 66. ISBN 0-07-019130-1. OCLC 255345.
Its shortcomings have been almost universally pointed out by modern authors, but the idea still has a prominent place in biological mythology. The resemblance of early vertebrate embryos is readily explained without resort to mysterious forces compelling each individual to reclimb its phylogenetic tree.
- ^ Blechschmidt, Erich (1977). The beginnings of human life. New York: Springer-Verlag. p. 32. ISBN 0-387-90249-X. OCLC 3414838.
The so-called basic law of biogenetics is wrong. No buts or ifs can mitigate this fact. It is not even a tiny bit correct or correct in a different form, making it valid in a certain percentage. It is totally wrong.
- ^ Payne, D.G.; Wenger, M.J. (1998). Cognitive Psychology. Instructor's resource manual and test bank. Houghton Mifflin. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-395-68573-0.
Faulty logic and problematic proposals relating the development of an individual to the development of the species turn up even today. The hypothesis that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny has been applied and extended in a number of areas, including cognition and mental activities.