GREAT MYTHS OF EVOLUTION: #1 by David Menton
HUMAN EMBRYOS HAVE "GILL SLITS" AT ONE STAGE OF THEIR DEVELOPMENT PROVING THAT MAN EVOLVED FROM AQUATIC, FISH AND AMPHIBIAN, ANCESTORS.
You can hardly attend high school or college now days with out hearing or reading this "whopper".
In fact, neither gills nor their slits are found at any stage in the embryological development of any mammal including man. The folds in the neck region of the mammalian embryo, that are erroneously called "gills", are not gills in any sense of the word and never have anything to do with breathing. They are merely flexion folds, or wrinkles, in the neck region resulting from the sharply down turned head and protruding heart of the developing embryo.
These folds eventually develop into a portion of the face, inner ear, tonsils, parathyroid and thymus. No reputable medical embryology text claims that there are "gill slits" in mammals.
Still, the gill slit myth is perpetuated in many high school and college biology text books as "scientific evidence" for evolution. Even Dr. Spock in his book 'Baby and Child Care' claims that "as the baby lies in the amniotic fluid of the womb, he has gills like a fish." Perhaps the "gill slit" myth continues to be taught because there is no better "evidence" for evolution. How many of you were taught the gill slit myth in school??