Question

Differentiate between the connecting link and the missing link.

Answer 1

Hint: In the Connecting link, we generally talk about living organisms, in which living organisms connect between two types or groups of organisms. In the missing link, we generally talk about fossils that also connect between two organisms.

Complete answer:
The actual goal of connecting links and missing links is the same because they both make a bridge between two organisms. Let's say there is organism 1 and organism 2 and in between them, there is something that connects both of them. So that work is done by connecting links and missing links.
Let's learn some differences between them.

Connecting link	Missing link
- The present-day living organisms.	- Extinct organisms.
- Establish continuity in animals.	- These are transitional fossils.
- These have characteristics of two different animals or organisms.	- They also had characteristics of two different groups of animals (phyla).
Example- Fishes and Amphibians = Protopterus or lungfishesReptiles and Mammals = Duck billed platypusAnnelids and Arthropods = Peripatus	Example- Reptiles and Birds = ArchaeopteryxAmphibians and Reptiles = SeymouriaFerns and Gymnosperms = Pteridosperms

Additional information:
- There is no common difference between connecting link and missing link excluding missing links are not alive as they are present in their Fossil forms while connecting links are alive and found in present times.
- Duck-billed platypus is an example of a connecting link. Its scientific name is Ornithorhynchus anatinus.
It is a connecting link between two evolutionary groups that is reptiles and mammals. It possesses the mammary gland as other mammals (human beings, buffalo, cow)and it also lays eggs rich in yolk and has skeleton similarities like reptiles.
- Archaeopteryx lithographica is an example of the missing link and has avian features as well as reptilian features.
- The connecting link between protozoa and Porifera is Protospongia.

Note:
- Connecting links are very good indications of organic evolution because it provides great knowledge to us about the evolution of organisms.
- Whenever there is a change in the characteristics of an organism for many years, it is termed evolution.