the distinction is made clear by examples such as the ear ossicles of mammals. these little bones have, in the course of several hundred million years of evolution, made their way from the gill covers of fish to the rear jaw bones of synapsids to their present position in the ear of mammals. in the fossil record is evidence of this, and also in embryology. as the embryo develops, the cartilage hardens to form bone. later in development, tiny bone structures break loose from the jaw and migrate to the inner ear area. the ear ossicles are homologous with the jaw bones and the gill covers, but not analogous.