Question
Question: The presence of four-chambered heart and gills in tadpole is an example of (a)Neo-Darwinism (b)...
The presence of four-chambered heart and gills in tadpole is an example of
(a)Neo-Darwinism
(b)Gause’s law
(c)Chargaff's law
(d)Biogenetic law
Solution
This is a theory of development and evolution proposed by Ernst Haeckel in Germany within the 1860s. it is one among the several recapitulation theories, which says that the stages of development for an animal embryo are equivalent to other animals' adult stages or forms.
Complete answer:
The presence of two-chambered hearts and gills in tadpoles is an example of Biogenetic law. The law was put forward by Ernst Haeckel and the law states as follows:
The biogenetic law states that every embryo's developmental stage represents an adult form of an evolutionary ancestor. Going with the law, by studying the stages of embryological development, one is, in effect, studying the history and diversification of life on Earth.
Additional Information: Haeckel proposed the biogenetic law after reading Charles Darwin's theories within the Origin of Species. Haeckel championed Darwin's theory of evolution in Germany and praised him for using information from embryology to assist form his theory of evolution. Darwin argued that one could explain facts about embryology, like the first similarity between embryos of various species, by watching them in terms of evolution by survival. Darwin proposed that the embryos of currently living species would look almost like the embryos of their ancestors which embryos of various taxonomic groups look almost like each other because they share a common ancestor. Haeckel interpreted the information differently than Darwin, and he purported instead that the embryonic stages of extant species represent adult kinds of their previous ancestors.
So, the correct answer is, ‘Biogenetic law.’
Note: Don’t get confused by Lamarckism and Recapitulation theory.
Lamarckism: It is a theory of evolution which states that the physical changes in organisms during their lifetime, will have greater development of an organ or an organ through increased use, could get transferred to their offspring, that is, that character gets observed in the offspring.
Recapitulation Theory: It is a theory in which the stages an organism passes through during its embryonic development repeat the evolutionary stages of structural change in its ancestral lineage.