Lessons from an "embryo"

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Categories : Science, Evolution

Editor : MikeGene

published: samedi 23 décembre 2006 20:20:48

I previously drew attention to the recent study that argues fossilized embryos are really fossilized bacteria. PZ Myers does a nice job of outlining the several lines of evidence that made it look like these fossils were embryonic in origin:

The cells were dimpled and shaped by adjoining cells, suggesting a flexible membrane—not a cell wall. This rules out algae, fungi, and plants.

The number of cells within each specimen was usually a power of 2. This is something we typically see in cleaving embryos, the sequence from 1 to 2 to 4 to 8 to 16 cells.

Evolution, Science,