Ch. 6: The Best-Laid (Body) PlansAt a

At first, it was difficult for me to grasp the meaning of this chapter and all the information given, but after reading over, i seem to understand a bit of what Shubin was trying to get to us. It was interesting how Pander's three layers are all the same in every species. No matter how different an animal may be, as tiny embryos they all went through the same stages of development. I started to get very confused when Shubin started talking about our human embryo and the stages of development. He had gone into depth and started telling us how we first look like a fluid filled balloon then a frisbee and continued to explain so much. I did not understand the significance of his explanations and was not sure where he was trying to go with this. What I found entertaining was when Shubin talked about the sea anemones and animals that have no nerve cord. For example, creatures such as jellyfish, corals, and sea anemones have a opening that serves as a mouth but ALSO to expel waste. That is pretty disturbing. It amazed me how Shubin tries to compare human bodies to every living creature out there and find a connection, even with jellyfish!