[beavus]

This is a myth and was started back in 1890 and was disproven a few years later when the guy who said he ran the experiments admitted he lied about his evidence. Didn't matter to the schools though. They kept right on teaching. Humans embryos never have gills or tails as far as that goes. Proven fact not opinion.

(1) The author didn't say that human embryos have gills. He said that fish gills and human parathyroid glands both originate from the embryonic pharyngeal pouches.

(2) As for human embryos having tails:

[aMorePerfectUnion]

I believe that "tail" is called a spine... and to some a backbone.