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Similarities and differences: Understanding homology and convergent evolution

Grade Level(s):

  • 9-12
  • General
  • Student

Source:

  • UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type:

  • Online activity or lab

Time: 30 minutes

Overview

This interactive investigation explains what homologies are, how to recognize them, and how convergent traits evolve.

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  • [History of life: Grades 9-12] Biological evolution accounts for diversity over long periods of time. (LS4.A, LS4.D)
  • [History of life: Grades 9-12] Through billions of years of evolution, life forms have continued to diversify in a branching pattern, from single-celled ancestors to the diversity of life on Earth today.
  • [Evidence of evolution: Grades 9-12] An organism's features reflect its evolutionary history.
  • [Evidence of evolution: Grades 9-12] There is a fit between organisms and their environments, though not always a perfect fit. (LS4.C)
  • [Evidence of evolution: Grades 9-12] Features sometimes acquire new functions through natural selection
  • [Evidence of evolution: Grades 9-12] Similarities among existing organisms provide evidence for evolution. (LS4.A)
  • [Evidence of evolution: Grades 9-12] Anatomical similarities of living things reflect common ancestry. (LS4.A)
  • [Evidence of evolution: Grades 9-12] Not all similar traits are homologous; some are the result of convergent evolution.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 9-12] Complex structures may be produced incrementally by the accumulation of smaller useful mutations.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 9-12] Traits that confer an advantage may persist in the population and are called adaptations. (LS4.B, LS4.C)
  • [Studying evolution: Grades 9-12] Scientists use the similarity of DNA nucleotide sequences to infer the relatedness of taxa. (LS4.A)
  • [Studying evolution: Grades 9-12] Scientists use anatomical evidence to infer the relatedness of taxa. (LS4.A)
  • [Studying evolution: Grades 9-12] Scientists use developmental evidence to infer the relatedness of taxa. (LS4.A)
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS4.B: Natural Selection
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS4.C: Adaptation
  • Disciplinary Core Idea LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans

This tutorial provides many interactive features and does an excellent job of explaining homologies and analogies. You may want to have your class explore the resources Examples of Analogy and Examples of Homology available in the resource database at the main Understanding Evolution Website, evolution.berkeley.edu. There is also a version of this tutorial that is appropriate for grades 6-8.