Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy (zootomy) and plant anatomy (phytotomy). In some of its facets anatomy is closely related to embryology, comparative anatomy and comparative embryology, through common roots in of organisms In biology, an organism is any living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole. An organism may either be unicellular (single-celled) or be composed of, as in humans, many billions of cells grouped into specialized. It is closely related to evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is a sub-field of biology concerned with the origin of species from a common descent and descent of species, as well as their change, multiplication and diversity over time. Someone who studies evolutionary biology is known as an evolutionary biologist and phylogeny In biology, phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relatedness among various groups of organisms , which is discovered through molecular sequencing data and morphological data matrices. The term phylogenetics is of Greek origin from the terms phyle/phylon (φυλή/φῦλον), meaning "tribe, race," and genetikos (γενετικός (the evolution In biology, evolution is change in the genetic material of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. Though changes produced in any one generation are normally small, differences accumulate with each generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the population, a process that can culminate in the emergence of new of species).
Description
Two major concepts of comparative anatomy are:
- Homologous structures In evolutionary biology, homology refers to any similarity between characteristics that is due to their shared ancestry. The word homologous derives from the ancient Greek ομολογειν, 'to agree'. There are examples in different branches of biology. Anatomical structures that perform the same function in different biological species and - structures (body parts/anatomy) which are similar in different species because the species have common descent A group of organisms is said to have common descent if they have a common ancestor. In modern biology, it is generally accepted that all living organisms on Earth are descended from a common ancestor or ancestral gene pool. They may or may not perform the same function. An example is the forelimb structure shared by cats The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felines and felids, is a small carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin and household pests. It has been associated with humans for at least 9,500 years and is currently the most popular pet in the world and whales Whale is the common name for marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale is sometimes used to refer to all cetaceans in current taxonomy, but in more common English usage it generally excludes the members of the Delphinoidea superfamily, such as dolphins and porpoises. These smaller species belong to the suborder Odontoceti , which also.
- Analogous structures Two structures in biology are said to be analogous if they perform the same or similar function by a similar mechanism but evolved separately. Similar structures may have evolved through different pathways, a process known as convergent evolution, or may be homologous - structures which are similar in different organisms because they evolved in a similar environment, rather than were inherited from a recent common ancestor. They usually serve the same or similar purposes. An example is the torpedo body shape of porpoises Porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. They are distinct from dolphins, although the word "porpoise" has been used to refer to any small dolphin, especially by sailors and fishermen. The most obvious visible difference between the two groups is that porpoises have flattened, and sharks Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago, before the time of the dinosaurs. It evolved in a water environment, but the animals have different ancestors.
The rules for development of special characteristics which differ significantly from general homology were listed by Karl Ernst von Baer (the Baer laws).
History
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Edward Tyson Edward Tyson was a British scientist and physician, commonly regarded as the founder of comparative anatomy, which compares the anatomy between species is regarded as the founder of comparative anatomy. He is credited with determining that marine mammals are, in fact, mammals. Also, he concluded that chimpanzees Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species: are more similar to humans than to monkeys A monkey is any cercopithecoid or platyrrhine (New World monkey) primate. All primates that are not prosimians (lemurs and tarsiers) or apes are monkeys. The 264 known extant monkey species represent two of the three groupings of simian primates (the third group being the 21 species of apes). Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent and, because of their arms.
Marco Aurelio Severino also compared various animals, including birds, in his Zootomia democritaea, one of the first works of comparative anatomy.
See also
- Cladistics Cladistics is a form of biological systematics which classifies living organisms on the basis of monophyletic groups. It can be distinguished from other taxonomic systems, such as phenetics, by its focus on synapomorphies (shared derived characters) as a criterion of grouping; while other systems usually use morphological similarities to group
- Phylogenetics In biology, phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relatedness among various groups of organisms , which is discovered through molecular sequencing data and morphological data matrices. The term phylogenetics is of Greek origin from the terms phyle/phylon (φυλή/φῦλον), meaning "tribe, race," and genetikos (γενετικός
Categories: Comparative anatomy
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marvelyngranger
Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:38:12 GM
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