About embryonic and genetic evidence of evolution?

My question here is about evidence for evolution from Embryology and from Genetics.

1. 
   

   Mammals do have similar Embryos, but is it the case that for each species there is an embryonic development that occurs in earlier species, has such relationship been observed?

   
   

   What I mean for example if we generally conceive of having species$Sp_1,Sp_2,...,Sp_n$ where each $ Sp_{i+1}$ being evolved from $Sp_i,$ then is it the case that the embryonic development stages of $ Sp_{i+1}$ contains some of the embryonic development stages of all of its ancestor species.

   
   


2. 
   

   Similar question to 1 but regarding Genetics, is it the case that every species has a genetic thumbprint of its ancestors that lie there in the non-functional sections of its DNA, i.e. is it the case that all the genetic history of our evolution is recorded in the non-functional section of our DNA. So do human DNA have some portions of the DNA of some dinosaurs for example?

   
   

Answer

Question 1 asks whether ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. It is striking that the when observing e.g. human embryo development, the embryo seems to go through stages that its ancestral species would go through, but where those 'lower' species would terminate at a specific stage. In other words, embryonic development seems to recapitulate a species' evolutionary lineage.

This is the recapitulation theory, which is outdated and incorrect, but a great example from the history of science. The most prominent of these was Ernst Haeckel's biogenetic law and the Meckel-Serres Conception. There were many problems with this, especially because they focused on noting similarities rather than differences, and several exceptions exist to the rule. They were not very scientific. It also incorrectly presumes that complex organisms have more predecessors. However, it is a compelling piece of evidence to elegantly show that evolution acts incrementally on existing embryological processes.

Question 2 asks whether there is evidence of ancestral DNA in our genome. The answer is yes. Where to begin? We share almost all of our genes with close relatives (e.g. chimpanzees and bonobos) and progressively fewer with more distant relatives. 50% of a banana’s genes (and indeed most other plants') can be found in the human genome. But remember, logically, that doesn't necessarily mean that 50% of human genes are found in bananas, though, because of the way divergence works. The human genome also contains a record of many viruses that have inserted themselves over tens of millions of years. Though they are not ancestors, they have been added 'horizontally' as opposed to the 'vertically' that ancestor DNA is modified over a species lineage.

It's very possible to answer your questions from many, many different angles, and present countless pieces of evidence in favor, but I think this should suffice.