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The opposite of homologous organs are analogous organs which do similar jobs in two taxa that were not present in their most recent common ancestor but rather evolved separately. For example, the wings of insects and birds evolved independently in widely separated groups, and converged functionally to support powered flight, so they are analogous.
Homologous structures in the external genitalia. This list of related male and female reproductive organs shows how the male and female reproductive organs and the development of the reproductive system are related, sharing a common developmental path. This makes them biological homologues. These organs differentiate into the respective sex ...
Homologous structures indicate common ancestry with those organisms that have a functional version of the structure. [15] Douglas Futuyma has stated that vestigial structures make no sense without evolution, just as spelling and usage of many modern English words can only be explained by their Latin or Old Norse antecedents.
Ileum, caecum and colon of rabbit, showing Appendix vermiformis on fully functional caecum The human vermiform appendix on the vestigial caecum. The appendix was once believed to be a vestige of a redundant organ that in ancestral species had digestive functions, much as it still does in extant species in which intestinal flora hydrolyze cellulose and similar indigestible plant materials. [10]
In addition to differences in nearly every reproductive organ, there are numerous differences in typical secondary sex characteristics. Human reproduction usually involves internal fertilization by sexual intercourse. In this process, the male inserts his penis into the female's vagina and ejaculates semen, which contains sperm.
In arthropods, an appendage refers to any of the homologous body parts that may extend from a body segment, including antennae, mouthparts (including mandibles, maxillae and maxillipeds), gills, locomotor legs (pereiopods for walking, and pleopods for swimming), sexual organs , and parts of the tail . Typically, each body segment carries one ...
Homologous chromosomes, chromosomes in a biological cell that pair up (synapse) during meiosis; Homologous recombination, genetic recombination in which nucleotide sequences are exchanged between molecules of DNA; Homologous desensitization, a receptor decreases its response to a signalling molecule when that agonist is in high concentration
The term "percent homology" is often used to mean "sequence similarity”, that is the percentage of identical residues (percent identity), or the percentage of residues conserved with similar physicochemical properties (percent similarity), e.g. leucine and isoleucine, is usually used to "quantify the homology."