University:
University of Michigan
Course:
BIOLOGY 173 | Introductory Biology Laboratory
Academic year:

2023
Views:

319

Pages:

1
Author:

arrompem78fn

WHAT IF ... FISH COULD WALK? BIRDS COULD SWIM? HUMANS COULD FLY? While this may be funny to imagine, these three organisms actually have features in common. These are known as: HOMOLOGOUS STRUCTURES The prefix "homo-" means "same," so homology is the study of similarities between organisms that have a common ancestor. WHAT ARE HOMOLOGOUS STRUCTURES? Homologous structures are similar characteristics between related species that have different functions. In other words, they have the same ancestor but different functions. The picture below shows that humans, dogs, birds, and whales have similar/homologous structures. HUMAN DOG BIRD WHALE PHOTO CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS This concept is similar to how identical twins are from the same parents and can look really similar but still have different interests! LET'S LOOK AT AN EXAMPLE OF THIS CONCEPT ... BIRD EARLY LOBEFINNED FISH EARLY AMPHIBIAN EARLY REPTILE HUMAN PHOTO CREDIT: UMMNH, EVOLUTION: LIFE THROUGH TIME EXHIBIT - 2ND FLOOR OF UMMNH This graphic shows how human arm bones and bird wing bones evolved from Eusthenonteron, which is a lobe-finned fish. This means that Eusthenonteron is their common ancestor. ACTIVITY FILL IN THE BLANK ... While the bones in the fish, bird, and human are the same, they have _________ functions. This makes the bones _____________ structures. Look at the bottom of this infographic for answers! Using homologous structures, we can work backwards to find out which species are related and where they shared common ancestors based on the similarities and differences they hold!

Homologous Structures Infographic

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