Biological Evolution: not a ladder, but a copiously branching bush

WRONG

 

monkeys
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rats
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pigeons
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turtles
|
fishes
|
crabs
|
earthworms
RIGHT

The pseudoscience of a "great chain of being" was used by pre-Darwinian biologists in the 19th century. It is still used today by racist biologists such as Arthur Jensen. Contemporary biologists understand evolution to be a branching bush, not a ladder.