Homology / Analogy Post

Homologous Traits; Crocodylus Actus hand and the Human hand.

Crocodylus Actus (American Crocodile) is from the Crocodylium Species and the Reptile class.  The Crocodylus Actus is primarily a carnivorous crocodile and is found in the salt waters of central and south America. This is the largest crocodile species know to date.  It is a quadruped with short strong legs and a powerful tail.  It's skin texture is a rigid hide which they use as a defense mechanism.  Crocodylus Actus has a long snout, powerful jaw,

and it crawls on it's stomach.  This crocodile is also know to "high-walk".  During my research, I learned that the Crocodylus Actus has an abdominal rib which supports all abdominal muscle and attaches the abdominal muscle much like the Tyrannosaurus. In researching this crocodile, I also learned that they have many uses to their powerful hands and are similar traits to those of humans.  They have many small bones on top and bottom of their hands and have five digits on each hand.  Their hands are attached much like the human hand to a larger set of bones (lower and upper arms).  The Crocodylus Actus uses it's hands to prey on food (mostly fish), as locomotion to crawl and to defend themselves from bigger species (mostly humans who hunt them for their hide).

Like the Crocodylus Actus hands, humans have similar bone structure, digits and uses for their hands.  Also, humans hands are attached to bigger and stronger bones (lower and upper arms).  Human also have numerous uses for their hands and like the Crocodylus Actus use them to hunt and eat their food and as a defense mechanism.

Analogous Traits; Beavers and Emperor Penguin's webbed feet.

The beaver is a large rodent mammals from the Castor Damadensis species and the Castorisate family.  The beaver species is mostly herbivorous eating several types of wood and water Lillie's. Being mostly nocturnal, the beaver lives both on water and land.

 The beavers ancestor where estimated to be as big as 6 feet tall and weigh approximately 300 pounds.

They have special adaptation that allows them to store enough oxygen to swing approximately half a mile.  They cannot breath under water.

Beavers were able to adapt to living on water mostly because of their webbed feet which they use as propellers in water.  They have flat powerful tails which they use to balance themselves and have big jaws with strong incisors which allows them to eat wood.

The Emperor Penguin is the largest living flightless bird from the sub-family of Spheniscipae and classified in the Sphenisciformes (flightless bird). It is from the Aptenodytes Forstein species. They became adapt to oceanic environment and changed for diving and swimming.  They are classified as Aves along with birds with outer covering feather and warm blooded\ and they lay eggs.  They evolved from flying birds over 65 million years ago.  Their wings are useless for flying and become flippers when swimming. The penguin has a large head, short neck and a elongated body.  Their tails are short and wedge which is used during swimming.  Their legs and feet are are far back on their body which gives them the ability to stand upright. Their diet consists of squid and fish. Their feet are webbed and similar to that of the beaver with the exception that the penguin has claws at the end of the webbed feet.  Like the beaver, the penguin uses his webbed feet as a propeller when swimming.

The bones in their wings are flat and broad which allows them to use their wings as flipper.

 During my research of the two species, I learned that the beaver most likely comes from a large rodent family  and only developed the webbed feet during parallel evolution and adapted to their environment through time.  The same can be said for the penguin.  Being that the penguin evolved from a flying bird species, we can say that he also developed his webbed feet through parallel evolution and adapted to their environment.  Being that these two species come from different ancestors makes their webbed feet an Analogous trait.