In the context of the question, tenancy in common is the arrangement where a deceased tenant's interest passes to their heirs. Each co-tenant in a tenancy in common holds a distinct and separate share of the property, which does not automatically dissolve upon a co-tenant's death. Instead, when a tenant in common dies, their share is inherited according to their will or through intestate succession laws if there is no will. This allows for the deceased tenant's interest in the property to be transferred to their heirs, thereby ensuring that the ownership interest continues beyond the life of the original tenant.
In contrast, in other forms of tenancy such as tenants by the entireties or joint tenants with right of survivorship, the interests do not pass to heirs upon death. Instead, they pass to the surviving co-owners, which is why those arrangements are not applicable in answering this question. Tenants in severalty, meanwhile, refers to sole ownership, which also does not involve the situation of shared ownership that is present in the question.