Question

Write a brief note on analogous organs.

Answer 1

Analogous organs and homologous organs are just opposite to each other. Homologous organs have the same anatomical structure but different function.

Complete step by step answer: Complete solution:
The idea of biological evolution is that all life on the earth shares a common ancestry and some similarities have passed or evolved in other ways. This is known as analogies and homologies. Analogous organs are the result of convergent evolution and not common ancestry. Analogous structures have different anatomically structured but similar functions. We can say that it is the similar habitat that has resulted in the selection of alike adaptive features in distinct groups of organisms but towards the same function.
Examples -
-Wings of birds, bats and insects – All these have different anatomical structures but perform a similar function that helps each of them to fly. The wings of the birds originate from their forelimbs whereas the wings of the insect originated from the outer or inner surface of their body.
-In plants, the leaves of mango trees and leaves of opuntia are examples of analogous structures. In the case of opuntia, the stem is modified into the succulent leaf structure and performs the photosynthesis. Whereas, in a mango tree, the leaves are normal that perform photosynthesis.
Other examples are the eyes of the mammals and octopus, flippers of Penguins and Dolphins, potato is stem modification while the sweet potato is root modification.

Note: Homologous organs result from the divergent evolution and share a common ancestry. The best example of the homologous organ is the forelimbs of whales, bats, cheetahs and human beings. They share the similarities in the pattern of bones of the forelimbs but their function is different in each of them.