Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny

Ok…I know you’re wondering….. “What the heck?”

If you will, give me 227 words to explain.
I know we’re all pattern seeking creatures, but there is something that happens to me every time I listen to people speak, or any time I read a book.  I can’t help but see words/stories in metaphors.

An example….Someone said the other day, “we’re never there”…I immediately thought, “That’s because we’re always here…right here…right now.”

So where am I going with this?

I’ve recently been reading about bugs and parasites. Every sentence I read brings forth a new perspective about human behavior.  There are certain behaviors in other species that appear to be recapitulated (brief summary) in humans.

So this is where the title comes from. Let’s look at the definition….

Ontogeny - The origin and development of an individual organism from embryo to adult.

Recapitulates - To give a brief summary of something….to reiterate.

Phylogeny - the evolutionary history of a kind of organism.

( By the way, this theory has been disproven)

The easiest explanation for this hypothesis is that in developing from embryo to adult, animals go through stages resembling or representing successive stages in the evolution of their remote ancestors.

I would like to share 3 stories of different species behaviors (juvenile sea squirt, moth, and parasite) that appear to be recapitulated in humans.

Thanks for listening to my pattern seeking mind!