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Plants also have vestigial parts, including functionless stipules and carpels, leaf reduction of Equisetum, paraphyses of Fungi. [35] Well known examples are the reductions in floral display, leading to smaller and/or paler flowers, in plants that reproduce without outcrossing , for example via selfing or obligate clonal reproduction.
The existence of vestigial organs can be explained in terms of changes in the environment or modes of life of the species. Those organs are typically functional in the ancestral species but are now either semi-functional, nonfunctional, or re-purposed. Scientific literature concerning vestigial structures abounds.
Ileum, caecum and colon of rabbit, showing Appendix vermiformis on fully functional caecum The human vermiform appendix on the vestigial caecum. The appendix was once believed to be a vestige of a redundant organ that in ancestral species had digestive functions, much as it still does in extant species in which intestinal flora hydrolyze cellulose and similar indigestible plant materials. [10]
Pages in category "Vestigial organs" The following 12 pages are in this category, out of 12 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. ...
In many plants, defensive or storage structures are made by modifications of the development of primary leaves, stems, and roots. Leaves are variously modified from photosynthetic structures to form the insect-trapping pitchers of pitcher plants , the insect-trapping jaws of the Venus flytrap , and the spines of cactuses , all homologous.
Appendix testis, a vestigial remnant of the Müllerian duct; Epiploic appendix, one of several small pouches of fat on the peritoneum along the colon and rectum Appendix of the laryngeal ventricle, a sac that extends from the laryngeal ventricle; Mesoappendix, the portion of the mesentery that connects the ileum to the vermiform appendix
A mature flower. In this example, the perianth is separated into a calyx (sepals) and corolla (petals) The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when called a perigone.
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups.