Scientists determine the age of fossils and categorize them all over the world to determine when the organisms lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past, and shows the evolution of form over millions of years [Figure 1].
For example, highly detailed fossil records have been recovered for sequences of species in the evolution of whales and modern horses. The fossil record of horses in North America is especially rich and many contain transition fossils: those showing intermediate anatomy between earlier and later forms.
The fossil record extends back to a dog-like ancestor some 55 million years ago that gave rise to the first horse-like species 55 to 42 million years ago in the genus Eohippus. The series of fossils tracks the change in anatomy resulting from a gradual drying trend that changed the landscape from a forested one to a prairie.
Successive fossils show the evolution of teeth shapes and foot and leg anatomy to a grazing habit, with adaptations for escaping predators, for example in species of Mesohippus found from 40 to 30 million years ago. Later species showed gains in size, such as those of Hipparion , which existed from about 23 to 2 million years ago. The fossil record shows several adaptive radiations in the horse lineage, which is now much reduced to only one genus, Equus , with several species.
Another type of evidence for evolution is the presence of structures in organisms that share the same basic form. For example, the bones in the appendages of a human, dog, bird, and whale all share the same overall construction [Figure 2]. That similarity results from their origin in the appendages of a common ancestor. Over time, evolution led to changes in the shapes and sizes of these bones in different species, but they have maintained the same overall layout, evidence of descent from a common ancestor.
Scientists call these synonymous parts homologous structures. Some structures exist in organisms that have no apparent function at all, and appear to be residual parts from a past ancestor. Press, Cambridge, MA; Norton, New York; Mayo Clinic Proceedings , 59 1 — Temple Univ. Press, Philadelphia; Jacob F: Evolution and tinkering. Science , — Science , 19— Knobloch IW: Are there vestigial structures in plants? Science , American Journal of Roentgenology , 5 — Mayr E: Teleological and teleonomic: A new analysis.
Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science , 14 1 — Article Google Scholar. Muller GB: Vestigial organs and structures. In Encyclopedia of Evolution. Edited by: Pagel M. Oxford Univ. Press, New York; — Owen R: Notes on the dissection of a Nubian giraffe. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London , — Scadding SR: Do vestigial organs provide evidence for evolution? Evolutionary Theory , 5: — Secord J: Victorian sensation: The extraordinary publication, reception, and secret authorship of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation.
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Macmillan, London; Basic Books, New York; Download references. Two anonymous reviewers supplied many helpful suggestions that greatly improved the writing and organization of this paper. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. Correspondence to Alexander J Werth. Reprints and Permissions.
Werth, A. Vestiges of the natural history of development: historical holdovers reveal the dynamic interaction between ontogeny and phylogeny.
Evo Edu Outreach 7, 12 Download citation. Received : 07 February Accepted : 15 April Published : 03 May Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:. Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative.
Skip to main content. Search all BMC articles Search. Download PDF. History and philosophy Open Access Published: 03 May Vestiges of the natural history of development: historical holdovers reveal the dynamic interaction between ontogeny and phylogeny Alexander J Werth 1 Evolution: Education and Outreach volume 7 , Article number: 12 Cite this article 11k Accesses 4 Citations 8 Altmetric Metrics details. Abstract Vestigial features of humans and other organisms are well known and have long been used as key evidence for evolution.
Introduction Life is a dynamic process, and organismal structures disclose the history of the two principal levels of biological change: evolutionary and developmental. Vestiges in historical context Progressive notions of natural philosophy and theology were simmering in Victorian England when, in , the scientific establishment was rocked by the anonymous publication of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation Chambers [ ]. Table 1 Examples of historical holdovers, phylogenetic and ontogenetic, revealing traces of prior conditions Full size table.
References 1. Google Scholar 3. Google Scholar 4. Google Scholar 5. Google Scholar 6. Book Google Scholar 7. Google Scholar Article Google Scholar Google Scholar Download references. Acknowledgments Two anonymous reviewers supplied many helpful suggestions that greatly improved the writing and organization of this paper. Additional information Competing interests The author declares that he has no competing interests. About this article. Cite this article Werth, A. Copy to clipboard. About NCSE.
Our History. Our People. Our Financials. Annual Reports. Media Center. Our Partners. Need a Speaker? Our Impact. Our Research. View All Forbes. Financial Times. Washington Post. We support teachers How it Works. Online Resources. We investigate science education. Donate Our Work We support teachers. We block threats to science education. In the Press. DIYSci Activities. Reports of the National Center for Science Education. Reduction of the digits, ulnar shaft, and fibular shaft to a vestigial state in Equidae, as illustrated by the fossil horse series Orohippus — Merychippus — Pliohippus — Equus.
Rock Dove; B. Reduction of limbs and digits to a vestigial state in lizards, as illustrated by comparison between member os the same genus.
Dorsal views of hindlimbs of members of the genus Tetradactylus , showing a species with full limbs T seps : top , a species with reduced limbs T tetradactylus : bottom left , and a species with vestigial limbs T africanus : bottom right ; modified from Berger-Dell'mour Hands left and feet right of Hemiergis initialis top and H quadrilineatum bottom , showing vestigial condition of outer digits in H quadrilineatum ; modified from Choquenot and Greer This version might differ slightly from the print publication.
All From This Issue. Use Sunscreen, and Use Your Brains. Review: Darwin's Lost World. Other examples of vestigial structures are wings which may have other functions on flightless birds like the ostrich, leaves on some cacti, traces of pelvic bones in whales, and the sightless eyes of cave animals. There are also several reflexes and behaviors that are considered to be vestigial.
The arrector pili muscle, which is a band of smooth muscle that connects the hair follicle to connective tissue, contracts and creates the goose bumps on skin. Vestigial structures are often homologous to structures that function normally in other species. Therefore, vestigial structures can be considered evidence for evolution, the process by which beneficial heritable traits arise in populations over an extended period of time. The existence of vestigial traits can be attributed to changes in the environment and behavior patterns of the organism in question.
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