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Are the legs of a cat and the fins of a whale homologous or analogous?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Neither. Homologous structures are similar because two organisms came from a common ancestor. Analogous structures are similar because two unrelated organisms were subjected to similar environments. But the legs of a cat and the fins of a whale are not similar enough to be characterized as either homologous or analogous. The ancestors of whales were hoofed mammals, and one could argue that a hoofed mammal's leg and a cat's leg are homologous. However, after millions of years of being in the oceans, whales' fins have adapted such that they are now not at all similar to the legs of a cat.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agohomologous
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Are the legs of a cat and fins of a whale homologous or anologous?
Homologous. Almost bone for bone. They are both tetrapods and mammals. The wing of a bird and the wing of a bat are analogous. They are tetrapods, but one is a bird and one is a mammal.
If Whales and cats are both mammals Are the whale's front flipper and the cat's front leg homologous or analogous and why?
Neither one. Both homologous and analogous structures refer to similar structures. But a cat's front leg and a whale's front flipper have little in common. Homologous structures come from little evolutionary separation, and analogous structures come from convergent evolution. But the differences between a cat's front legs and a whale's front flipper result from divergent evolution. The common ancestor of mammals (cynodonts) has split into various groups with widely differing characteristics. One such group includes cats, and another includes whales. These two groups are not very related to each other, thus having no homologous structures, and have been put in very different environments, thus having no analogous structures.
Have all mammals got four legs?
No. If you look at a whale, it is a mammal but it has a tail and fins and a monkey has 2 arms and 2 legs scientifically classified.
Are penguin flippers and bat wings homologous or analogous?
Yes they are. I disagree. Even if they ultimately come from a common ancestor, in order to classify two characteristics as homologous, they have to have some similarities. After millions of years of being in the oceans, the fins of whales have evolved such that they are not at all similar to cats' legs.
Are the legs of dogs and insects analogous?
Dogs and insects both have apendages used for moving around, observing this similarity people use the same name to deceive all of them, legs. However to be homologous they must have been inherited by a shares ancestor (common ancestor). Going back in time from the dogs this is an ancestral creature earlier than the earliest vertabrates, before the bony fishes. Considering this it is easy to imagine these distantly related organisms (dogs and fish) did not both inherit the characteristic of having legs from a common ancestor. Therefor legs of dogs and insects are analogous, not homologous.
What appendage does the skeleton of a whales fin resemble?
On the outside, the fins of a whale resemble the fins of a fish, because they have evolved for the same purpose. But when you look at a whale skeleton, the fins look like arms and hands. That's because whales are not fish, they are actually mammals that have evolved from land-dwelling creatures with four legs.
How may legs does a goldfish have?
Goldfish do not have legs. Goldfish do have fins, although the number of fins will depend on the type of goldfish.
What kind of EELS have legs?
eels do not have legs only fins
An example of a homologous structure?
Examples of Homologous Structure: Rodent teeth Hooves in species of camels, goats, sheep and cattle Hands and feet in primates Bird feathers Shark morphology
What has paired legs or fins?
An angelfish!
Do green sea turtles have legs or fins?
They have legs but they are called flippers.
How many legs do fish have?
There is no definite number of fins a shark can have. They can have one or two dorsal fins Always a caudal fin Two pectoral fins One set of pelvic fins
