Anatomy, Comparative; Embryology, Human; Evolution; Human beings -- Origin
The whole structure of this huge anthropoid ape is not merely very
similar to that of man, but it is substantially the same. “The same 200
bones, arranged in the same way, form our internal skeleton; the same
300 muscles effect our movements; the same hair covers our skin; the
same groups of ganglionic cells compose the ingenious mechanism of our
brain; the same four-chambered heart is the central pump of our
circulation.” The really existing differences in the shape and size of
the various parts are explained by differences in their growth, due to
adaptation to different habits of life and unequal use of the various
organs. This of itself proves morphologically the descent of man from
the ape. We will return to the point in Chapter XXIII. But I wanted to
point already to this important solution of “the question of
questions,” because that agreement
in the formation of the embryonic membranes and in fœtal circulation
which I have described affords a particularly weighty proof of it. It
is the more instructive as even cenogenetic structures may in certain
circumstances have a high phylogenetic value. In conjunction with the
other facts, it affords a striking confirmation of our biogenetic law.
Fig.208. Female gorilla. Fig. 208—Female gorilla. (From _Brehm_).
Fig.209. Male giant-gorilla (Gorilla gigas), from Yaunde, in the
interior of the Cameroons. Killed by H. Paschen, stuffed by Umlauff.
Fig. 209—Male giant-gorilla (_Gorilla gigas_), from Yaunde, in the
interior of the Cameroons. Killed by H. Paschen, stuffed by Umlauff.
Chapter XVI.
STRUCTURE OF THE LANCELET AND THE SEA-SQUIRT
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