NEET BIOLOGY

GENETICS AND EVOLUTION

EVOLUTION

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
A structure that is present in an organisms’ ancestor but no longer serves its original purpose in the current species.
A
analogous
B
mutation
C
vestigial
D
homologous
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Structures that have no apparent function and appear to be residual parts from a past ancestor are called vestigial structures. Examples of vestigial structures include the human appendix, the pelvic bone of a snake, and the wings of flightless birds.

Detailed explanation-2: -Vestigial structures serve little or no present purpose for an organism. The human tail, which is reduced to the tailbone during development, is one example. Vestigial structures can provide insights into an organism’s ancestry.

Detailed explanation-3: -A vestigial structure is a biological structure that has lost a major ancestral function and is usually drastically reduced in size. Well-known examples include the eyes of blind cave fishes and blind cave salamanders, and the diminutive wings of kiwis and emus.

Detailed explanation-4: -Vestigial structures are anatomical structures of organisms in a species which are considered to have lost much or all of their original function through evolution. These structures are typically in a degenerate, atrophied, or rudimentary condition or form.

Detailed explanation-5: -Vestigial is used in science to describe structures like animal organs, tissues, or bones that may have been used by an ancestor but aren’t anymore. For example, snakes have vestigial structures where limbs would have been when they walked on four legs.

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