AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Convergent evolution occurs when species occupy similar ecological niches and adapt in similar ways in response to similar selective pressures. Traits that arise through convergent evolution are referred to as ‘analogous structures’.

Detailed explanation-2: -Natural selection explains how organisms in a population develop traits that allow them to survive and reproduce. Natural selection means that traits that offer an advantage will most likely be passed on to offspring; individuals with those traits have a better chance of surviving.

Detailed explanation-3: -Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar trait(s) in unrelated species. This usually happens because the species are living in similar (or the same) environments, so they evolve similar adaptations to face the same selective pressures. Notice how all of these organisms have similar body forms.

Detailed explanation-4: -Homologous structures If two or more species share a unique physical trait they may all have inherited this trait from a common ancestor. Traits that are shared due to common ancestry are homologous structures. The similar bone arrangement of the human, bird, and whale forelimb is a structural homology.