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biogenetic law

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re·ca·pit·u·la·tion the·o·ry

the theory formulated by E.H. Haeckel that people during their embryonic development pass through stages similar in general structural plan to the stages their species passed through in its evolution; more technically phrased, the theory that ontogeny is an abbreviated recapitulation of phylogeny.
Synonym(s): biogenetic law, law of biogenesis, Haeckel law, law of recapitulation
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

biogenetic law

n.
The discredited theory that the stages in an organism's embryonic development repeat the stages in the evolutionary history of the species. Also called Haeckel's law, recapitulation theory.
The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

biogenetic law

(1) Biogenesis.
(2) Recapitulation theory, see there.
Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
Optimal foraging, not biogenetic law, predicts spider orb web allometry.
Web asymmetry in the tetragnathid orb spider Metellina mengei (Blackwell, 1869) is determined by web inclination and web size
In any event, just to assert that "Haeckel was wrong about his biogenetic law" (Pickett et al., 2005) seems a less-than-fair assessment.
What to make of all this commentary on Haeckel?
rejected Haeckel's biogenetic law and proposed a "systematic
Drowning by numbers: rereading Nelson's "Nullius in Verba"
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