1. Vertebrate embryos all start with similar basic body designs as they share some similar genes.
2. Karl Ernst Von Baer discovered four principles of comparative embryology showing that early embryos display common features before developing specialized traits, and that embryos of more evolved species diverge from primitive species over time.
3. Darwin found that differences between species increase with evolution, agreeing with Von Baer's theories, and he looked at both common descent using embryo similarities and how structures modified to help animals adapt.