Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Arrows show the vestigial structure called Darwin's tubercle. In the context of human evolution, vestigiality involves those traits occurring in humans that have lost all or most of their original function through evolution. Although structures called vestigial often appear functionless, they may retain lesser functions or develop minor new ones.
In humans, the vermiform appendix is sometimes called a vestigial structure as it has lost much of its ancestral digestive function.. Vestigiality is the retention, during the process of evolution, of genetically determined structures or attributes that have lost some or all of the ancestral function in a given species. [1]
This evolutionary process has been named "pristification". [129] Underwater camouflage is found independently in many fish like: leafy seadragon (large part of its body is just for camouflage), pygmy seahorse, leaf scorpionfish, flounder, peacock flounder. Some have active camouflage that changes with need. [130]
The comparative study of the anatomy of groups of animals shows structural features that are fundamentally similar (homologous), demonstrating phylogenetic and ancestral relationships with other organisms, most especially when compared with fossils of ancient extinct organisms. Vestigial structures and comparisons in embryonic development are ...
Atavisms have been observed in humans, such as with infants born with vestigial tails (called a "coccygeal process", "coccygeal projection", or "caudal appendage"). [8] Atavism can also be seen in humans who possess large teeth, like those of other primates. [9]
The nerve of the arch itself runs along the cranial side of the arch and is called post-trematic nerve of the arch. Each arch also receives a branch from the nerve of the succeeding arch called the pre-trematic nerve which runs along the caudal border of the arch. In human embryo, a double innervation is seen only in the first pharyngeal arch.
This phenomenon is an automatic-response mechanism that activates even before a human becomes consciously aware that a startling, unexpected or unknown sound has been "heard". [2] That this vestigial response occurs even before becoming consciously aware of a startling noise would explain why the function of ear-perking had evolved in animals.
Bones of the first gill arch became the upper and lower jaw, while those from the second arch became the hyomandibula, ceratohyal and basihyal; this closed two of the seven pairs of gills. The gap between the first and second arches just below the braincase (fused with upper jaw) created a pair of spiracles , which opened in the skin and led to ...