But, apart from these similarities, they belong to different families.

Among birds, both New and Old World vultures look very similar, both have featherless necks and heads, and feed on carrion. However, this is just possible on an experimental basis. This has been observed especially when two birds of differing origins when kept together, may develop skills to voice out the same kind of a bird song. The former do not have a common ancestor, yet are observed in organisms that have evolved separately.Īpart from the body part aspect, research in this field also tells us about homoplasy regarding the behavior of organisms. The latter are developed in different types of organisms, and have been derived from a common ancestor. Analogous and homologous structures are similar to each other, but show a major difference in their ancestral history.

They have been inherited from common ancestors, but are modified with due course of evolution according to the respective uses, and now look very different from each other. The tusks of elephants and the gnawing front teeth of the beaver are incisor teeth types. Analogous traits are adopted due to this type of evolution. This process is known as convergent evolution. Wings of birds and bats look similar in structure though they have evolved independently, but are related to each other because they adapted to a similar environment. For example, wings have the same functions for insects and birds, but there is no evolutionary similarity between them. This type of development of structures is also called homoplasy. The features in organisms that perform the same functions, but have different evolutionary history are called analogous/convergent structures. Both organisms have stereoscopic vision, even if they belong to totally unrelated classes, i.e., Vertebrata and Cephalopoda, respectively.Ĭonvergent evolution has played a very important role in the development of complex life forms since the time of appearance of the first organisms. Though differing in their evolutionary pathways, the eyes of humans and octopuses are almost the same regarding structure and appearance.

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