Question

What are analogous organs? Describe with one example from the plant kingdom.

Answer 1

Hint: Homologous structures share common ancestry; on the other side, analogous organs have an identical feature. A chimpanzee’s arm and a human’s arm are homologous structures. These structures are not analogous.

Complete Answer:
- Analogous organs perform the identical feature and have at most the same appearance, but they evolve in totally different groups and are different in fundamental structure. Therefore, analogy is the external similarity in appearance between organs of different animal groups because they share the identical feature.
- There are some defined organs in the organisms which are similar to each other. These organs are mainly classified into two types, they are- homologous and analogous organs. Those organs which have the identical features but are different in the fundamental structure are known as analogous organs. The embryonic origin of analogous organs is also not similar.
- Some examples of analogous organs are- wing of insects, birds and bats carry out the similar function and have similar appearance but their origin of structure is completely different.

Note: The wings of a butterfly and the wings of a bird are analogous organs but not homologous. Some structural features are both analogous and homologous like the wings of a bat and the wings of a bird come under both homologous and analogous organs. Scientists must determine which type of similarity a feature exhibits to decipher the phylogeny of the organisms being studied.