Saleena Poudel

Atavism or reversion is the anatomical process of sudden appearance or refunctioning of some ancestral organ which were either completely disappeared or present as vestigial organ in the recent parental stocks.

Some atavistic organs occurring in human offspring are as follows:

1. Human baby with a small tail

2. Development of power of moving ear pinnae in some people

3. Long and dense body hair (lion boy)

4. Large sized canine teeth

5. Additional pair of nipple

Comparative serology is done to determine and confirm the natural relationship of animals due to similarity of blood proteins. The relative degree of precipitation of serum from one group of animals will give idea about closeness between them. The serum of closely related animals is unable to cause precipitation, whereas those of distantly related animals causes highest precipitation.

The importance of paleontology are as follows:

1. Fossils explain the evolutionary history of the organisms. The phylogeny of humans and elephant has also been made possible through fossil records.

2. It has proved that in the beginning unicellular protozoans were formed, from which multicellular animals evolved.

3. It helps to make geological time scale.

4. It provides records of connecting links between two groups of organisms. Example: Archaeopteryx is the connecting link between reptiles and...

Recapitulation theory was put forward by E. Haeckel.

Biogenetic law states that ontogeny repeats phylogeny.

Every organism during its development repeats the evolutionary history of its race.

The embryos of the higher animals show resemblances with the adult of lower animals.

Example:

• The life history of a frog clearly shows the phylogenetic history. Frog develops through larval stage similar to that of fish.

• Man develops through a number of embryonic stages similar to that of the lower animals.

...

Vestigial organs are the organs that are non-functional at present but were functional in the ancestors and in related animals. These are the rudimentary and dysfunctional organs of the animals in the present generation which are supposed to be full-sized and completely functional in their ancestors.

Any five vestigial organs in human body are as follows:

1. Auricular muscles in ear to move pinna

2. Nictitating membrane in eye (Plica semilunaris)

3. Wisdom tooth

4. Vermiform appendix

5. Nipple in...