In humans, the pelvis and femur (thigh bones) are involved in walking. In whales, the pelvis and femur bones are still present, just like in humans. The pelvis and femur shown here are: examples of:

Question

​​​​​​In humans, the pelvis and femur (thigh bones) are involved in walking. In whales, the pelvis and femur bones are still present, just like in humans. The pelvis and femur shown here are: examples of:

(1 point)
Responses

skeletal fossils
skeletal fossils

vestigial structures
vestigial structures

acquired traits
acquired traits

natural variation

GPT-4o mini · Answer

The pelvis and femur in whales are best described as **vestigial structures**. These are body parts that have lost their original function through the course of evolution but are still present in the organism. In the case of whales, these bones are remnants from their land-dwelling ancestors when they walked on land.

​​​​​​In humans, the pelvis and femur (thigh bones) are involved in walking. In whales, the pelvis and femur bones are still present, just like in humans. The pelvis and femur shown here are: examples of:

In humans, the pelvis and femur (thigh bones) are involved in walking. In whales, the pelvis and femur bones are still present, just like in humans. The pelvis and femur shown here are: examples of: