Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny

by The Philosophical Fish

Gizmo lost a feather and I found it.

It probably says something about me that I can take a closeup photo of one of Gizmo’s lost feathers and suddenly have a phrase like “Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” (Ernst Haeckel) pop into my head. When I brought this image up on my computer screen I was struck by how much the barbs of a bird’s feather look like the primary lamellae of a fish’s gill. And when I looked up the structure of a feather I realized there is a reason for that observation; they are very similar, the birds feather also has secondary barbules that are similar to secondary lamellae, but serve a different purpose….

While the primary and secondary lamellae of a gill are used to direct water flow and maximize gas exchange, the barbs and barbules of a feather are designed to direct air flow and maximize lift.

Mother Nature is amazing, she doesn’t do things in isolation, and she doesn’t waste a good design on only one creature.

Biology is cool 🙂

Gizmo’s Gift

A post shared by Paige (@filosoficalfish) on

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Harris Hui (in search of light) June 2, 2018 - 10:12 pm

Beautiful close up details! Paige
Have a great weekend!

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Dr. Ilia June 3, 2018 - 4:02 am

nicely framed

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