Homologous Traits
The woodpecker and the hummingbird are both
birds, and have specially designed beaks they use to get to their food.
Both birds use their beaks to get food, but
their beaks and food sources are completely different. The hummingbird utilizes
a thin, long beak that is designed to pull nectar out of even the most
difficult flowers. The woodpecker, on the other hand has a strong, sharp beak
designed to penetrate bark and wood in order to allow the bird to reach the
insects residing within. Both birds have beaks that evolved to acquire food
sources that other animals would struggle to get at, but they evolved very
different beaks to achieve the same goal.
Both birds are small, land based birds that
almost certainly shared a common ancestor. As the bird moved across the world,
and met new demands for food, its prodigy diverged and formed new beaks to
accommodate new food sources. In semi tropical areas, where the competition for
insects is higher, an adaptation that made it easier to get to nectar would
give the hummingbird an advantage. In wooded areas where insects and larvae are
hidden inside trees would give the woodpecker an advantage over other birds that
have to wait for the insects to emerge.
Analogous Traits
The platypus and the duck each lay eggs and
have similarly shaped beaks. While they share these traits, ducks belong to the
bird family, while platypodes are monotremes of the mammal family.
In the
case of ducks and platypodes, both animals have bill-style mouths designed for
finding food underwater. This makes sense because both animals spend the
majority of their life near the water. A bill would allow them to root through
the river beds and lake beds of the areas they inhabit. Both animals also make
nests and lay eggs.
Platypodes and ducks definitely share a common
ancestor, which was uncovered when the platypodes genome was mapped in 2008,
and it was discovered that platypodes “[have] two matches for ZPAX genes that had previously been found only in birds,
amphibians and fish.” Having two genes that correspond to bird genes would
indicate a shared ancestor.** It’s a safe bet to say that the ancestor was a vertebrate,
and since platypodes have eggs that are leathery like a reptile, and since
reptiles can be traced back further to birds, the common ancestor was likely a
prehistoric bird. It is unlikely that this bird had a bill-shaped beak, but
would likely reproduce by making eggs.
Both of the examples in which you used were very interesting! On a daily basis, most of us think of birds being mostly the same creatures, but after the readings I have done in this class so far, I have noticed the many differences among the same species of animals. Although both of these birds are using their beaks for food sources, the structure of their beaks and the food sources themselves are very different from one another. I also really enjoyed your analogous trait example as well. These two animals share many commonalities, such as where they live, their way of reproduction, and the styles of their beak, however, they are not even considered the same species! Very informative and well thought out blog post.
ReplyDeleteExcellent work on your homologous trait! Good job outlining the specific difference between the beaks and the environmental pressures that produced them.
ReplyDeleteGood work as well on the analogous trait. Keep in mind that the platypus, because it is a mammal, would have broken of early reptiles with the rest of the mammals, not the birds. The common ancestor of these two organisms would actually be a reptile before the three-way split that produced today's reptiles, mammals, and birds.
Other than that issue of ancestry, good job.
I found this post very interesting and informative! You never really realize how something as common as a beak can be so different depending on the birds species and have such different uses. I wonder if the hummingbirds beak has anything to do with the music it makes? You did a great job of summing up what each bird uses the beaks for and why they are structured so differently. Also, I loved reading your analogous traits research! What two interesting creatures to study, I would think at first glance they would be homologous. I knew ducks were in the bird family however I was informed and surprised to learn the platypus was a mammal!Very great job on tracing the ancestory between the two as well I found that to be a hard place to get started. Great work!
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was really interesting to me because I actually found out things that I did not know. The whole thing about the woodpecker and the hummingbird having a different structure of beaks is quite intriguing. I knew that each bird did different things, but I never thought that each beak would specialize in doing something specific.
ReplyDeleteThe analogous traits that you used I found them especially interesting because for starters I never knew that ducks were apart of the bird family. Also the part about the possible reptile ancestor was surprising because I would never think that a platypus could be related to a reptile.
I really like the homologous trait you chose. I've always felt that even from the point of view of someone who doesn't believe in evolution, the beaks of birds clearly show the strength behind it. You can see how something so similar can also be very different.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the post!!! After reading your analogous trait section and comparing it to mine i definitely feel that i fell short in my descriptions and analysis. I really did enjoy your comparison and description of more than one shared trait and at the end of it all I am glad i read your post because now i can walk away with new tid bits of information, specifically the mapping of the platypuses genomes where mapped and correlation between the genetic makeup of a platypus and birds/amphibians and fish.
ReplyDelete