Homology
Gorillas and Humans
The two different species that I have chosen are the gorillas and human tailbones. Also often referred to "vestigial." Humans are homosepians and gorillas are apes, but one thing that they have in common is the structure of the tailbone. Humans does not have a tail, but since the tailbone is the last vestige, it remains where the tail should be if there was one. Along evolution the tail structure has changed and evolve for humans, no longer looking like a tail, but as an extra bone. The ancestor who we shared this bone structure with is the Great Ape.
Analogy
Birds and Insects
For this section I chose birds and insects wings. To be more specific I will be discussing the wings for butterflies. Birds are vertebras with warm blood; they have feathers and bones in their wings. Butterflies on the other hand are nectar feeding insects, they have a small body and really broad wings that contain a set of membranes which are filled with fluid. This two species do not share a common ancestor. The only thing they both have in common is that they both use their wings to fly.
Hi Gaby. I liked your post, however, I would have liked for you to be a little more detailed in your explanation of both traits. The explanations were a bit vague. You didn't explain the function of the trait and the differences in structure. As the question in our prompt asked, "Could the common ancestor of these two species have possessed this analogous trait?". You didn't share your thoughts. As I have already said, I liked your post, but would have liked to learn a little more about them.
ReplyDeleteHomologous traits arise from common ancestry, and that is the case with your chosen traits. But the other crucial requirement is that the traits exhibit distinct structural differences resulting from different environments and functions. You seem to focus on the similarities and not the differences. Do gorilla and human tailbones serve different functions and differences in structures? If not, they are simply shared common structures.
ReplyDeleteYour choice of analogous traits is a good example and you do a good job of describing these traits. With regard to ancestry, as it explains in the guidelines, all organisms share a common ancestor if you go back far enough. The question is whether the trait in question arose from that common ancestor or independently through convergent evolution. In the case of insects and birds, we know that birds evolved their wings independently when they split from reptiles. That is sufficient to confirm that these are analogous traits, not traits that arose through common descent.
Nice post. You had some very good examples for both homology and analogy. I also enjoyed the pictures you posted as they were very descriptive in the point you were trying to make. Good job.
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