If different organisms have common ancestors then it is possible that they have similar characteristics due to inheritance. These similarities are used to determine their close relations in evolutionary terms. For example – forelimbs of bird and forelimb of humans have similar basic structure of bones which suggests that they have a common ancestor i.e. they are closely related in evolutionary terms. Over time these structures have developed to function as per the requirement. Thus homologous organs help in determining closeness in evolution.