Does development repeat evolution

Answer 1

Not really. The phrase you are referring to is this. ' Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. '

Or, as you say, development repeats evolution. A reference to organisms going through all the ancestral evolutionary changes in their development. Which they don't. For instance, human foetuses do not have gill slits as fish do not have them. Both have pharyngeal pouches that develop into gills in fish and other jaw and throat parts in humans. So, you could more truly say, ' ontogeny creates phylogeny. '

Answer 2

Development does not repeat evolution, as they are distinct processes. Evolution refers to genetic changes in populations over generations, leading to the emergence of new species, while development refers to the process by which a single organism grows and matures from a fertilized egg. While they share some common underlying principles, such as genetic regulation and morphological changes, they occur at different scales and contexts.