504 



THE CHANGING WORLD 



However, all the foregoing unproven speculations do not invali- 

 date the outstanding fact that similarity of development suggests 

 relationship, particularly among forms that have come to be unlike 



Tnamrnals 



amphibian 

 fishes^ 



birds 



amphibians 



See text. 



each other, and implies that evolution has occurred. Why, for ex- 

 ample, should a mammal in its development "go around Robin 

 Hood's barn" in order to pass through a fishlike stage with useless 

 gill pouches, unless such structures were once present, and not yet 

 discarded, in ancestral fishes? 



Evidence from Classification 



The most natural question anyone asks upon seeing a new or 

 unknown animal or plant is, "What is it?" In the science of classi- 

 fication, or taxonomy, the first essential is to identify and to name 

 different organisms. This is no mean task, as there are many thou- 

 sands of different kinds of plants and animals. According to the 

 Biblical account, the first piece of work that any human being is on 

 record as having accompUshed was in the field of taxonomy. "And 

 Adam gave names to all the cattle, and to the fowls of the air, and 

 to every beast of the field" (Genesis 2 : 20). 



