Specimen: Goose Barnacle
Description: Discovered attached to flotsam floating off the coast of England. This is a mollusk thought to be the watery origin of the Barnacle Goose (see next specimen).
Specimen: Barnacle Goose
Description: A species of goose first classified taxonomically by Johann Mathäus Bechstein in 1803. Thought to originate from the Goose Barnacle. Before the migration of birds was understood, the origin of these birds presented a mystery. They had no nests nor were they observed laying eggs. The supposition was that they originated from the water (some catholics even considered them exceptions to the meatless restrictions of Lent, considering them to be more like fish), specifically as a case of heterogenesis from the Goose Barnacle.
Spontaneous generation: Spontaneous generation is the idea that new organisms can arise from nonliving matter. While science has debunked this view, ruling out spontaneous generation proved to be a difficult undertaking. Louis Pasteur is credited with proving spontaneous generation wrong in 1859.
Heterogenesis: The case of the Goose Barnacle and the Barnacle Goose exemplifies a related idea that organisms can be generated from completely unrelated organisms; in this case, a goose can arise from a barnacle.
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