Biogenetic Law | Zoology Optional Notes for UPSC PDF Download

Introduction

The biogenetic law is additionally referred to as the idea of recapitulation, was proposed by Ernst Haeckel during the 1860s, after reading through Darwin’s ‘The Theory Of Evolution’. It is a historical theory that shows that the embryogenesis of an animal from fertilization to ontogeny has a movement through various stages which are almost like successive adult stages within the phylogeny. It is also known as the Meckel-Serres law formulated by Etienne Serres on the work of Johann Friedrich Meckel. It concludes that the different stages an animal embryo undergoes during development are a sequential replay of that species’ past ancestral forms. It states that an embryo’s developmental stage depicts an adult sort of an ancestor post-evolution. As per the law, a careful analysis of the phases of the development of embryos fuels the process of diversification of life and studying history. It suggested that specialists could analyze the evolutionary association between taxonomic groups by drawing similarities from entities from the taxa and developmental phases of embryos. Additionally, the confirmation from embryology reinforced the idea that each one species have evolved from a standard ancestor.

Ontogeny

It is the birth and production of an entity, from the fertilization stage of an egg up until the formation of a mature individual. It refers to the developmental history of an entity with its own lifetime. Developmental processes can have an impression on the succeeding evolutionary levels, as individual entities grow while species evolve. In cell biology, Ontogeny is employed to brief about the expansion of varied sorts of cells within an entity.

Phylogeny

It refers to the evolutionary history of a species. A phylogenetic tree is made to display the evolutionary relationship between various species and other biological entities which supports the differences and similarities in their genetic and physical traits. It is indicated through the tree that each one life on Earth is from common ancestry. Hence it is based on the assumption that more closely related species are more similar to one another. The tools make a difference between phylogenetic trees and environmental layers with occurrence data of species facilitating relatively newer perspectives on biodiversity.

Applications of Biogenetic Law

The recapitulation law can be relevant and applied to some fields.

Field of Art

The principle can be applied to create and recast art history.

Cognitive Development

Researchers suggest that the stages that the child’s cognitive development has and biological evolution are on equivalent lines because of the development of the evolutionary stages proposed in history.