National Geographic Magazine

In the February 2007 Edition of National Geographic Magazine, there's an article about the amazing sea worms around Hawaii - "Hawaii's Unearthly Worms."


The pictures, taken by Darlene A. Murawski, are stunning. The variety of shapes and colors that these marine worms come in keep you turning each page to see the next one. These aren't your typical backyard earthworms. It's an excellent photo essay on this type of sea life.

So, it's with disappointment when several pictures in, one comes to the picture of a Ptychodera flava, or Acorn Worm. The journalist, Jennifer S. Holland, points out that this worm has "gill slits like those of sharks" but then she feels compelled to end this statement with "—and embryonic humans."

Do embryonic humans have gill slits? Is this a remnant of evolution?

National Geographic has never shied away from any opportunity to support the theory of evolution, and only quietly retracted it's "facts" when proven wrong. So, once again they have attempted to claim evolutionary proof in this subtle picture caption, which I'm sure many folks would nod their head in agreement over, because after all, this is "National Geographic," and isn't this what we've been told throughout our years of biology in public school?

But is it true? DO embryonic humans have gill slits?

The answer, of course, is NO! Are there skin folds on the embryo that resembles gills one might see on non-human embryos? Yes. But they are not gills, future gills, or even remnants from some evolutionary past. They are merely the result of cartilage forming under the skin, which will become unique structures in the neck, such as the voice box.

The idea that human embryo's have gill slits was perpetrated in 1866 by Dr. Ernst Haeckel, an early convert to Darwinism. See Biogenetic Law. Haeckel not only falsified his illustrations of the human embryo to fit his claims, he also fabricated a life form which he called the Moneron, going so far as to give a scientific name, Protomyxa aurantiaca. Of this life form, he claims "The Protomyxa aurantiaca is distinguished from the other Monera by the beautiful and bright orange-red colour of its perfectly simple body, which consists merely of primæval slime, or protoplasm."

His falsification of evidence was eventually proven in 1874 by Wilhelm His, Sr, a famous comparative embryologist of the day and professor of anatomy at the University of Leipzig. On Janurary 9, 1909, Dr. Haeckel admitted his fraud in a letter to a scientific journal.

In today's world, any serious Embryologist would deny that human embryos have, or have ever had, gill slits. This is a lie perpetuated by folklore, and bad comments in widely respected publications like National Geographic.

Protomyxa aurantiaca: Ref. 5, Vol.2, p. 380, Ernst Haeckel, The History of Creation