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In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution is the process whereby organisms that are not monophyletic (not closely related) independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to ecological niches or similar environments.^[1] The opposite of convergent evolution is divergent evolution, whereby related species evolve different traits. On a molecular level, this can happen due to random mutation unrelated to adaptive changes; see long branch attraction.

In cultural evolution, convergent evolution is the development of similar cultural adaptations to similar environmental conditions by different peoples with different ancestral cultures.

An example of convergent evolution is the similar nature of the wings of insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats. All four serve the same function and are similar in structure, but each evolved independently and not from a common winged ancestor. The striking similarities between hummingbird moths and hummingbirds are another example of convergent evolution.

Convergent evolution is similar to, but distinguishable from, the phenomena of evolutionary relay and parallel evolution. Evolutionary relay describes how independent species acquire similar characteristics through their evolution in similar ecosystems, but not at the same time (e.g. dorsal fins of extinct ichthyosaurs and sharks). Parallel evolution occurs when two independent species evolve together at the same time in the same ecospace and acquire similar characteristics (extinct browsing-horses and extinct paleotheres).

Structures that are the result of convergent evolution are called analogous structures or homoplasies; they should be contrasted with homologous structures, which have a common origin. Bat and bird and pterodactyl wings are an example of analogous structures, while the bat wing is homologous to human and other mammal forearms, sharing a common ancestor despite serving different functions by modern species.

Animal examples

The skulls of the Thylacine (left) and the Grey Wolf, Canis lupus, are almost identical, although the species are only very distantly related (different infraclasses). The skull shape of the Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, is even closer to that of the Thylacine.^[2]

Mammals

• The marsupial Thylacine - Tasmanian Wolf, had many resemblances to the placental Canids.
• Several mammal groups have independently evolved prickly protrusions of the skin, called spines – echidnas (monotremes), the insectivorous hedgehogs, some tenrecs (a diverse group of shrew-like Madagascan mammals), Old World porcupines (rodents) and New World porcupines (another biological family of rodents). In this case, because the two groups of porcupines are closely related, they would be considered to be examples of parallel evolution; however, neither echidnas, nor hedgehogs, nor tenrecs are close relatives of the Rodentia. In fact, the last common ancestor of all of these groups was a contemporary of the dinosaurs.
• Cat-like sabre-toothed predators evolved in three distinct lineages of mammals – sabre-toothed cats, Nimravids ("false" sabre-tooths), and the marsupial "lion" Thylacosmilus. Gorgonopsids and creodonts also developed long canine teeth, but with no other particular physical similarities.
• A number of mammals have developed powerful fore claws and long, sticky tongues that allow them to open the homes of social insects (e.g., ants and termites) and consume them (myrmecophagy). These include the four species of anteater, more than a dozen armadillos, eight species of pangolin (plus fossil species), the African aardvark, one echidna (an egg-laying monotreme), the enigmatic Fruitafossor, the singular Australian marsupial known as the numbat, the aberrant Aardwolf, and possibly also the Sloth Bear of South Asia, all not related..
• Koalas of Australasia have evolved fingerprints, very similar to those of humans.
• The Australian honey possums acquired a long tongue for taking nectar from flowers, a structure similar to that of butterflies, some moths, and hummingbirds, and used to accomplish the very same task.
• Marsupial Sugar Glider and Squirrel Glider of Australian are like the placental Flying Squirrel.
• The North American kangaroo rat, Australian hopping mice, and North African and Asian jerboa have developed convergent adaptations for hot desert environments; these include a small rounded body shape with very large hind legs and long thin tails, a characteristic bipedal hop, and nocturnal, burrowing and seed-eating behaviours. These rodent groups fill similar niches in their respective ecosystems.
• Oppsums have evolved an opposable thumb, a feature which is also commonly found in the non-related primates.
• Marsupial mole has many resemblances to the placental Mole.
• Marsupial Mulgara - mouse has many resemblances to the placental mouse.
• Marsupial Tasmanian Devil has many resemblances to the placental Badger.
• The Marsupial lion had retractable claws. the same way the placental felines - cats do today.

Dinosaurs

• Ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs had a pelvis shape similar to that of birds, or avian dinosaurs, which evolved from saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs.

Avian

• The Little Auk of the north Atlantic (Charadriiformes) and the diving-petrels of the southern oceans (Procellariiformes) are remarkably similar in appearance and habits.
• Penguins in the Southern Hemisphere evolved similarly to flightless wing-propelled diving auks in the Northern Hemisphere: the Atlantic Great Auk and the Pacific mancallines.
• Vultures are a result of convergent evolution: both Old World vultures and New World vultures eat carrion, but Old World vultures are in the eagle and hawk family (Accipitridae) and use mainly eyesight for discovering food; the New World vultures are of obscure ancestry, and some use the sense of smell as well as sight in hunting. Birds of both families are very big, search for food by soaring, circle over sighted carrion, flock in trees, and have unfeathered heads and necks.

Nubian Vulture, an Old World vulture

Turkey Vulture, a New World vulture

Hummingbird, a New World bird, with a sunbird, an Old World bird

• Hummingbirds resemble sunbirds. The former live in the Americas and belong to an order or superorder including the swifts, while the latter live in Africa and Asia and are a family in the order Passeriformes.
• Certain longclaws (Macronyx) and meadowlarks (Sturnella) have essentially the same striking plumage pattern. The former inhabit Africa and the latter the Americas, and they belong to different lineages of Passerida. While they are ecologically quite similar, no satisfying explanation exists for the convergent plumage; it is best explained by sheer chance.
• Resemblances between swifts and swallows is due to convergent evolution.
• Downy Woodpecker and Hairy Woodpecker look the same, but are convergent evolution.
• Many birds of Australia, like wrens and robins, look like northern hemisphere birds but are not related.

Reptiles

• The thorny devil (Moloch horridus) is similar in diet and activity patterns to the Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum), although the two are not particulary closely related.
• Modern Crocodilians resemble prehistoric phytosaurs, champsosaurs, certain labyrinthodont amphibians, and perhaps even the early whale Ambulocetus. The resemblance between the crocodilians and phytosaurs in particular is quite striking; even to the point of having evolved the graduation between narrow- and broad-snouted forms, due to differences in diet between particuler species in both groups.
• The body shape of the prehistoric fish-like reptile Ophthalmosaurus is similar to those of other ichthyosaurians, dolphins (aquatic mammals), and tuna (scombrid fish).
• Death Adders strongly resemble true vipers, but are elapids.
• Large Tegu lizards of South America have converged in form and ecology with monitor lizards, which are not present in the Americas.

Fish

• Goby dorsal fin liked the lumpsuckers, yet not are related.
• Cuttlefish show similarities between cephalopod and vertebrate eyes.
• Cichlids of South America and the "sunfish" of North America are strikingly similar in morphology, ecology and behavior. The Peacock Bass and Largemouth Bass are excellent examples.
• The Antifreeze protein of fish in the arctic and Antarctic, independent episodes of molecular evolution.

Amphibians

• Two lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia are due to convergent evolution.
• The Neotropical poison dart frog and the Mantella of Madagascar have independently developed similar mechanisms for obtaining alkaloids from a diet of mites and storing the toxic chemicals in skin glands. They have also independently evolved similar bright skin colors that warn predators of their toxicity (by the opposite of crypsis, namely aposematism).

Arthropods

• Assassin spiders comprise two lineages that evolved independently. They have very long necks and fangs proportionately larger than those of any other spider, and they hunt other spiders by snagging them from a distance.
• The smelling organs of the terrestrial coconut crab are similar to those of insects.

Other

• The brachiopods and bivalve molluscs have very similar shells.
• There are limpet-like forms in several lines of gastropods: "true" limpets, pulmonate siphonariid limpets and several lineages of pulmonate freshwater limpets.
• The notochords in chordates are like the stomochords in hemichordates.
• Elvis taxon in the fossil record developed a similar morphology through convergent evolution.

Plant examples

• Prickles, thorns and spines are all modified plant tissues that have evolved to prevent or limit herbivory, these structures have evolved independently a number of times.
• The aerial rootlets found in ivy (Hedera) are similar to those of the climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris) and some other vines. These rootlets are not derived from a common ancestor but have the same function of clinging to whatever support is available.
• Similar-looking rosette succulents have arisen separately among plants in the families Asphodelaceae (formerly Liliaceae) and Crassulaceae.
• The Euphorbia of deserts in Africa and southern Asia, and the Cactaceae of the New World deserts have similar modifications (see picture below for one of many possible examples).

Euphorbia obesa

Astrophytum asterias

Examples for convergent evolution of enzymes and biochemical pathways

• The existence of distinct families of carbonic anhydrase is believed to illustrate convergent evolution.
• The use of (Z)-7-dodecen-1-yl acetate as a sex pheromone by the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and by more than 100 species of Lepidoptera.
• The independent development of the catalytic triad in serine proteases independently with subtilisin in prokaryotes and the chymotrypsin clan in eukaryotes.
• The repeated independent evolution of nylonase in two different strains of Flavobacterium and one strain of Pseudomonas.
• The biosynthesis of plant hormones such as gibberellin and abscisic acid by different biochemical pathways in plants and fungi.^[3][4]
• ABAC is a database of convergently evolved protein interaction interfaces. Examples comprise fibronectin/long chain cytokines, NEF/SH2, cyclophilin/capsid proteins. Details are described here.

References

1. ^ Online Biology Glossary
2. ^ L Werdelin (1986). "Comparison of Skull Shape in Marsupial and Placental Carnivores". Australian Journal of Zoology 34 (2): 109–117. doi:10.1071/ZO9860109. 
3. ^ Tudzynski B. (2005). "Gibberellin biosynthesis in fungi: genes, enzymes, evolution, and impact on biotechnology". Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 66: 597–611. doi:10.1007/s00253-004-1805-1. PMID 15578178. 
4. ^ Siewers V, Smedsgaard J, Tudzynski P. (2004). "The P450 monooxygenase BcABA1 is essential for abscisic acid biosynthesis in Botrytis cinerea.". Appl Environ. Microbiol. 70: 3868–3876. doi:10.1128/AEM.70.7.3868-3876.2004. PMID 15240257. 

• Rasmussen, L.E.L., Lee, T.D., Roelofs, W.L., Zhang, A., Doyle Davies Jr, G. (1996). Insect pheromone in elephants. Nature. 379: 684
• Convergent Evolution Examples- Ecological Equivalents, Department of Biology, Bellarmine University
• Conway Morris, Simon (2003). Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-60325-0. 

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