Homologous Traits
a.) Humans use their limbs to do just about everything. Our arms are very important for everyday tasks and jobs. When it comes to the bat, their wings are just as important. They need their wings for locomotion so they can survive just as we need our arms and hands so we can survive.
b.) The homologous trait of the human and the bat are the two upper limbs, the arms for the human and the wings for the bat. While both are very similar in structure, they have very different functions. The human arm and hand have five fingers, an elbow, wrist and shoulder joint. All of which allowing more flexibility and variation for using it to eat, walk, and do everyday tasks. The bat’s wing also has five “fingers” and joints in the same position and location as the human hand. While the human uses its arms for everyday things, the bat uses its wings to fly.
c.) The common ancestor of the human and the bat could have been a prehistoric creature like a dinosaur or reptile because these creatures possessed limbs very similar in structure. We know that early reptiles possessed this homologous trait because of fossils and skeleton findings done by scientists.
d.)
a.) The Koala uses its sharp claws to climb and hang from tall Eucalyptus trees all day. The Kangaroo can jump up to 40 feet in one leap and can sustain a speed of 40km/hr. How are these two animals similar and how do they care for their young while undergoing these extreme acts?
b.) Both known as marsupials, the Koala and the Kangaroo share an analogous trait. The trait is the pouch they both share on their stomach. The young for Koalas and the Kangaroos are both called “Joeys” and when they are born, they are bald, blind, and deaf. They make their way up into the pouch on the stomach of their mother and live there for about six months drinking their mother’s milk. The pouch that these two species both have function in protecting and caring for their young while keeping them close at all times. This analogous trait shows us that these two species, while very different have similarities in their nature for caring for their young.
c.) I believe their common ancestor could have possessed this analogous trait. On the hand, however, I also believe that these two species could have evolved and acquired the pouch on their belly due to more predators and environmental changes.
d.)
I found the extensive evidence of the structure of the arm in so many different animals very interesting. I couldn't believe how many different species actually contain the same consistent structure that is the arm on humans and different limbs of other animals. The fact that it's the same as the arm of a human, the flipper of a whale, or the wing of a bat was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting facts on the koala and the kangaroo. I did not know that the koala had a pouch like the kangaroo. Also that the kangaroo jumped so high and ran so fast. Nice post! Well done.
ReplyDeleteGreat comparison between the human limb and the bat wing. But if they are both mammals, why do you need to go back to the reptiles to find a common ancestor?
ReplyDeleteI love the comparison between the kangaroo and the koala's pouch. But if the common ancestor had this pouch as well, that would make this a homologous trait, not analogous. What is the common ancestor of these two creatures?
Did you know that kangaroos have upward facing pouches and koalas have downward facing? :-) That would have been an interesting homologous trait to review.
http://animals.jrank.org/pages/2653/Koala-Wombats-Possums-Wallabies-Kangaroos-Diprotodontia-PHYSICAL-CHARACTERISTICS.html