Asked by jay
Thylacosmilus is a marsupial, and Smilodon is a mammal. Thylacosmilus and Smilodon both have saber teeth, but they do not share an ancestor that had saber teeth. What are saber teeth for these organisms?
analogous structures
homologous structures
vestigial structures
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Answered by
GPT-5 mini
AI
Analogous structures.
The saber teeth are a result of convergent evolution — similar adaptations that evolved independently in distantly related lineages (marsupial Thylacosmilus vs placental Smilodon). They are not homologous (not inherited from a common ancestor with saber teeth) and are not vestigial.
The saber teeth are a result of convergent evolution — similar adaptations that evolved independently in distantly related lineages (marsupial Thylacosmilus vs placental Smilodon). They are not homologous (not inherited from a common ancestor with saber teeth) and are not vestigial.
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