Embyonic gill slits

[Data]

I am rather confused to whether human embryos do actually have the begginings of gill slits or not. Now I was under the impression that they aren't gill slits at all, but through searching for proof, various scientific websites still claim that they are. As it happens, my high school biology teacher still says they are, and this came up while I was looking for information to see if I was wrong. The only problem is 95% of the websites on it are creationist, and they aren't exactly the best place to find scientific research ;)

Anyone know the answer? Is there a correct answer? I would also appreciate some links on the subject too.

[RufusAtticus]

"Gill slits" is a missnomer used in middle-school or high-school textbooks because it makes more sense than "pharyengal arches/pouches." In fish, these arches give rise to gills, jaws,and thyroids for example. In humans they give rise to jaws, thyroids, and ear bones for example.

[Data]

Ah, alright. That makes much more sense :D

Thanks.

[lpetrich]

However, in amniote embryos (including human ones), these pharyngeal pouches have several anatomical parallels to fish gills:

Their being almost complete holes in the body wall.

Vertical cartilage bars along their sides.

Aortic arches: blood vessels along their sides that connect the ventral and dorsal aortas.

However, most of these structures get rebuilt or resorbed as the embryo grows, and the blood circulation gets reorganized.

I think that creationists deny the connection because it's very embarrassing to them -- why would a land vertebrate ever have fishlike features?