Adithya Gadiraju: 1,2,3,4

Pranav Kamalakannan: 5,6,7,8

Syon Bilwar: 9,10,11

Name: _______________________________________________ Date: _______________________________

How do Living Things Provide Evidence for Evolution

Homologous Structures

Body parts in different organisms that have the same basic structure are called
homologous structures. By comparing homologous structures, biologists can determine
how organisms might be related. Homologous structures may not necessarily have the
same function, but they are similar in structure (such as bone location and number of
bones). The presence of homologous structures suggests that organisms evolved from a
common ancestor.
Analogous structures have the same function; but are very different in structure.

1. Compare the meaning of the terms “homologous” and “analogous”:

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Homologous means two different special share a similar trait.
Analogous, means two different creatures share a trait but are
_____________________________________________________________________________________________.
not from the same ancestor.
Figure 1: Homologous Structures

Figure 2: Analogous Structures

Bird wing Insect wing

© 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots © 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots

© 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots

© 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots

© 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots
 2. Data Table 1: Homologous Structures
Use Figure 1 to complete the table:
Organism Body Part Function
Human the bones are the It can bend.
same
Whale have the same It csn move
top bone
Cat Has a arm bone It can rotate

Bat Has a moving part It can fly

Bird Has a elbow It can also fly better

All has a elbow It can move

Horse

3. How are all the body parts in Figure 1 alike? ____________________________________________________

They all have the bone at the top, the part
that lets them move their bone.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

4. How are they different? ___________________________________________________________________________

They are all shaped different.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________.

5. Data table 2: Analogous Structures

Use Figure 2 to complete the table:
Organism Body Part Function
Bird Wing to fly to catch prey
and to move around
Insect Wing fly to move around and
spread nasty diseases and catch prey

Analysis and Conclusions

6. Why are the structures in Figure 1 homologous structures? (*note* the definition of
homologous structures might be used to help support your answer, but it should not
serve as the answer itself. Really analyze the bones- become an expert!).
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The structures in figure one are homologous due to the the way they're built. All of them have a top bone,
most have 5 fingers. They all have a similar structure in terms of their bones.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________.

© 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots © 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots
© 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots

© 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots

 7. Why are the structures in Figure 2 analogous structures? (How are the two different in
structure but have the same function)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
The structures are analogous because while the animals are entirely different classes (insect and animals),
_________________________________________________________________.
they still use their wings to move around and catch prey.

8. Do the wings of birds and insects suggest an evolutionary relationship? How do you know?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
No they don't, due to how they're built. Bird wings have bones, while insect wings don't.
They are also entirely different classes, so they arent even the same type of thing.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________.

Vestigial Structures

Vestigial structures are body parts that are found in living organisms, but have no purpose.
The question then arises, why are these structures present? Biologists find that these
structures may suggest an evolutionary past. For example, snakes have reduced leg bones
attached to their pelvic girdle. This suggests that snakes may have evolved from similar
animals that indeed had legs and walked.

9. Thinking critically: examine the examples of vestigial structures in the table below.
Determine what each vestigial structure may suggest about the organism’s evolutionary past.

Animal Vestigial Structure What might this tell us about its

evolutionary past?
It shows that they evolved their wings
Ostrich Wings overtime by independently being giants into
now having wings.
Whale Pelvic limbs (leg bones) It shows that they evolved their limbs
overtime by independently. It shows
Human Coccyx (tail bone) that the remmants overtime are similar.
It shows that the tailbone has changed over time
because humans have evolved from being a type
of monkey.
10. How do vestigial structures provide evidence of an organism’s evolutionary past?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
They provide evidence for a common ancestry between all the animals and humans.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
They shows that their different adaptions between the animals and the organism
and for a different purpose between all the structures.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________.

11. How are homologous and vestigial structures alike? How are they different?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
They are similar because they came from a common ancestry. They all perform
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
similar tasks with the same structures/body type. They are different because
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
the vestigal structures are smaller and no longer being used.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________.

© 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots © 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots

© 2013 Vanessa Jason Biology Roots