10 Remarkable Examples of Convergent Evolution

Evolution is a remarkable process. Any life form from lowly sponges to massive whales can show evidence of how the process of adaptation has worked to its benefit over many long generations. Sometimes an adaptation works so well it becomes a defining characteristic of every branch of that life form’s family tree. Other times they probably fail miserably and die out. But the truly interesting thing is when evolution rolls the dice on something a second time. Some trait, some adaptation, arises in one life form, and then a totally separate life form that is barely related, if at all, evolves similar traits independently. And it happens more than you’d think.

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[dafttool]

The evolution of sloths is actually quite surprising. There was a time when they inhabited many diverse habitats, from swimming under water to feed on vegetation like a marine iguana, to living in caves high up in the mountains. Ground Sloths were enormous, while tree sloths are the ones that survived the best. And to this very day, sloths can swim better than they can walk.

[JohnDrummondPhoto]

Add to sugar gliders and flying squirrels another gliding mammal: the Colugo. Also called flying lemurs, Colugos aren't lemurs. Neither are they rodents or marsupials. They do, however, have some relationship to primates but they're classified in a separate order. Simon or his writer seems to have confused flying squirrels with Colugos, as flying squirrels are in fact squirrels.

[cursedfishtanx]

Fun fact: Electric Eels are actually not true eels but rather the largest member of the knifefish family or the mormyrids. They are almost completely blind and primarily use their bio-electricity to navigate through murky water and most members of this family can be kept with other similarly sized fish without needing to worry about your entire fish tank dying from a zap of electricity.

[ferociousgumby]

5:35 That's a mighty friendly-looking octopus! A winning smile.

[ericvulgate]

One of my favorite subjects.
I suspect we'll find 'crabs' and 'pitcher plants' on other worlds too, for the same reasons we keep seeing them here.

[paulford]

I'm just here to laugh at the evolution deniers. 😁

[GimmeJimmy]

I absolutely love how it has reached the point where any particular TopTenz video seems to have at least one entry that references another video that Simon has done on another channel. (Not even intentionally, I imagine, just due to the sheer volume of content.) It's all falling into place. *Burnsian finger-tenting gesture*

[anyawillowfan]

So weird I watched an old video on PBS Eon today about the evolution of sloths and how neither type alive today has ancestors that hung from trees (one lived in caves, one lived in the ocean).

[maxdanielj]

Dr Forrest Valkai (evolutionary biologist) has an interesting YouTube channel for people who want to know more about evolution

[ProffesionalZombie]

Mildly disappointed that there was no mention of the recurrent evolution of the sabertooth body plan.

[moetthepoet]

another one, even closer than most of these. Green Tree Pythons and Emerald Tree Boas are so similar that a lay person couldn't tell them apart. Both have unique adaptations such as heat pits and a aposable tail, and both start off as babies in colors like red or purple or yellow then turn green as they become adults (fairly uncommon traits amongst snakes). Both sleep during the day wrapped around a tree branch and live almost entirely in the trees. They even need nearly identical husbandry when kept as pets. Yet they aren't remotely related and come from completely different areas of the world. One obviously being a boa (boadei) and th other a python (pythonidei).

[JAGFG]

Lol Simon trying to pronounce plant genus’s. 😂

[RaithGyaron]

While saying that when eating a chicken is like eating a T. rex is sound, it's more like we are eating Velociraptors because they are more closely related to birds.

[Idiotwriter]

Has anyone done a count on how many times southpark and family guy and the Simpsons have actually been "right"

[AeroGuy]

I've seen hawks and falcons catch prey at shows and in the wild. It's far more impressive, and violent, in the wild.

[davewave]

Koalas aren’t bears. Stop calling them bears.

[JohnDrummondPhoto]

I'll add two more instances of convergent evolution:

Armadillos and pangolins are both ant-eating mammals with long, sticky tongues and what appear to be scales. But they're not related. Armadillos are edentates, related to sloths and anteaters. Their "scales" are actually bony plates in their skin. Pangolins are most closely related to carnivorids (cats, dogs, hyenas, etc.). Their scales are true scales, and they're the only mammals to bear them.

Pangolins, anteaters, armadillos, and aardvarks have similarly evolved long sticky tongues, big digging claws, and a diet of ants and termites. Aardvarks are from another clade altogether: the one that includes elephants, manatees, hyraxes, and elephant shrews. Their claws are derived from their ancestors' hooves.

[jacquelynsmith]

Hedgehogs are not rodents, and they are not related to porcupines. They developed rodent-like facial features and spines independently of both families. They're awesome! And adorable, and snuggly (if they're not scared or annoyed)

[nicholasharvey]

Convergent evolution: when multiple evolutionary lineages agree that one particular body type is best suited for a certain role in an environment.

See also: whales, dolphins, etc. looking so similar to fish. The mammalian and fish lineages agreed that this general body shape was best suited for the ocean.

[DarkZodiacZZ]

There was a bird species called great auk that greatly resembled penguin. Those dirty hju-nams exploited them to extinction just like they did with the dodos.

Also feel my Wrath for turning those adorable sloths into pun.

Edit: Do we have video for divergent evolution yet?