Writing prompts – chapter 9. Write 200 words on one of the following five writing prompts (just select 1)
1. Describe the progression of the understanding of the origin of the vertebrates (Section 9-1).
Debates between George Cuvier and Geoffroy St Hilaire in the early 19th century.
Ernst Haeckel's proposal in the mid 19th century that vertebrates evolved from cephalochordates
Geoffrey Smith's viewpoint in 1911
Henry Gee's statement in 2018 regarding the sudden origin of the vertebrates
The discovery in 2021 that the vertebrate larval phase evolved long after the origin of the vertebrates
2. Describe the progression of fish evolution (Section 9-3 and 9-4): Natural Science.
3. Describe the viewpoints of the debaters in the video in Section 9-7: Perspective of a Natural Scientist.
4. Describe the unique (nonhomologous) characteristics of vertebrates (Section 9-3): Science
5. Evaluate whether scientists are getting closer or further from finding a natural origin of the vertebrates (Many sections in the chapter)? Metaphysics.