Explain the terms analogous and homologous organs with examples.

Analogous organs are organs that are similar in function but have different basic structure which means that they have different origin. For example- Wings of a bird and wings of an insect are analogous organs which have same function of flying but have different basic structure of wings.

Homologous organs are organs that have different functions but have similar basic structure i.e. they have common origin. For example- Forelimbs of man, forelimbs of frog and forelimbs of lizard are similar in structure but they perform completely different functions. Forelimbs of frog are used to prop up at front ends while at rest, forelimbs of lizards are used for running whereas forelimbs of human are used for grasping.


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