Question

What is the importance of comparative anatomy?

Answer 1

Comparative anatomy:

1. Comparative anatomy is the difference and similarity in anatomy that is obtained by the study of body structures of two or more species.
2. Buffon and Lamarck were the early scientists in evolution who determined different species relations through comparative anatomy.
3. Comparative anatomy is an important tool that helps determine evolutionary relationships between organisms and whether or not they share common ancestors.
4. However, it is also important evidence for evolution.
5. Anatomical similarities between organisms support the idea that these organisms evolved from a common ancestor.
6. This anatomy is used to study evolution such as homologous organs, analogous organs, etc.
7. Although their basic structure and origins are identical, homologous organs serve diverse purposes in various creatures.
8. Some examples of homologous organs: cockroach, bee, and butterfly mouthparts, whale, bat, human, and cheetah forelimbs.
9. Analogous organs have distinct fundamental structures yet carry out the same tasks. Examples include wings of birds, bat, butterfly and flippers of penguin and dolphin.
10. It is important in determining common ancestry and also in the classification of organisms based on their structural similarities and complexities.
11. Comparative anatomy of the heart in vertebrates: All vertebrates possess a heart. It is a hollow muscular organ composed of cardiac muscle fibres. The function of the heart is to pump oxygen to all parts of the body and is based on the separation of oxygenated blood from deoxygenated blood for efficient oxygen transport.
12. In fishes, the heart was like a hollow tube. Fish has only two chambers in its heart – one auricle and one ventricle. Since both the auricle and the ventricle remain undivided, only deoxygenated blood passes through it.
13. Amphibians, such as frogs, have three-chambered hearts, with two auricles and one ventricle. The auricle is divided into a right and a left chamber by an inter-auricular septum, while the ventricle remains undivided.
14. Reptiles have incomplete four-chambered hearts, except for crocodiles, alligators, and gharials. They have only one accessory chamber called sinus venosus. The reptilian heart also shows mixed blood circulation.
15. Avian and mammalian hearts have two pairs of chambers for separating oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.
16. The heart is divided into four chambers The upper two chamber are separated by a muscular wall that prevents the mixing of the blood rich in oxygen with the blood rich in carbon dioxide