Question

What are homologous organs? How do these organs help in understanding evolutionary relationships?

Answer 1

Definition of Homologous organs:

• The homologous organs have a similar structure, however, they perform different functions.

Example:

• The forelimbs of humans and lizards are homologous organs.
• They possess a basic structure similar to each other, but human beings grasp with forelimbs and lizards crawl with them.

Homologous organs help in understanding evolutionary relationships:

• The organisms having homologous organs have a common ancestor because of the similarity in the structure of the homologous organ.
• During the evolution, both the species diverge in different environmental conditions. This led to the evolution of the organs to perform a different functions.