Question

Contractile vacuole is analogous to
A. Sweat Gland
B. Kidney
C. Seminiferous tubule
D. Nerve fibre

Answer 1

Hint: Contractile vacuole expel the excess of liquid on concentration. Here It performs excretory and osmoregulatory functions and it is analogous to those who perform similar functions too.

Complete answer:
Contractile vacuole and Analogous meaning. Contractile vacuole is a vacuole which is found in protists and in unicellular algae. It collects excess fluid from the protoplasm and it empties it into the surrounding medium. These have excretory and osmoregulatory functions.

Analogous means to have similar functions but having a different evolutionary origin, for example, wings of insects and birds.

So, if we look at option,
> Option A which is Sweat gland then functions of sweat glands and contractile vacuole is not similar and therefore they can't be analogous. So, this option is incorrect.

> Option B is Kidney and as we know kidney plays an important role in excretion and so does the contractile vacuole. Both of these have similar functions and therefore, they can be analogous. Hence, this option is the correct one.

> Option C which is seminiferous tubules, it is the site of spermatogenesis where the germ cells get developed into spermatozoa with the help of sertoli cells. So this function is not performed by contractile vacuole and it's not even similar to its function. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

> Option D which is Nerve fibre. It conducts information from the sensory neuron to the central nervous system. This function is not similar to the excretory function of contractile vacuole. Therefore, this option is also incorrect.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B).

Note: Since the analogous means to have the same function but different origin, therefore the suitable option is B because both the contractile vacuole and kidney perform similar functions and that is excretion.