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 (extinctbrowsing-horses and extinct paleotheres).
Structures that are the result of convergent evolution are called analogous structures or homoplasies[2]; they should be contrasted with homologous structures, which have a common origin. Bat 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.
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.[3]
Mammals
Human beings with no close relation to one another often form similar external features in adaptation to their environment. Superficially, dark-skinned Papua New Guineans resemble black Africans, despite being unrelated.
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.
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.
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.
Opposums have evolved an opposable thumb, a feature which is also commonly found in the non-related primates.
Both the aye-aye lemur and the striped possum have an elongated finger used to get bugs from trees. There are no woodpeckers in Madagascar or New Zealand where the species evolved, so the supply of bugs in trees was large.
Dinosaurs
Ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs had a pelvis shape similar to that of birds, or avian dinosaurs, which evolved from saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs.
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.
<gallery>
Image:Nubianvulture.jpeg|Nubian Vulture, an Old World vulture
Image:Turkey_vulture_profile.jpg|Turkey Vulture, a New World vulture
image:Convergent evolution 12.JPG|Hummingbird, a New World bird, with a sunbird, an Old World bird
</gallery>
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.
The thorny devil (Moloch horridus) is similar in diet and activity patterns to the Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum), although the two are not particularly closely related.
Modern Crocodilians resemble prehistoric phytosaurs, champsosaurs, certain labyrinthodont amphibians, and perhaps even the early whaleAmbulocetus. 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.
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.
Two lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia are due to convergent evolution.
The Neotropicalpoison 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.
Molluscs
The brachiopods (non-molluscs) 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.
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.
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).
The biosynthesis of plant hormones such as gibberellin and abscisic acid by different biochemical pathways in plants and fungi.[4][5]
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.
The independent development of three distinct hydrogenases exemplifies convergent evolution.
↑ Homoplasies are actually slightly broader, encompassing any similarity that it not due to common ancestry, whether because of adaptive convergence or neutral genetic drift (Stearns and Hoekstra, 2005).
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