10 Facts About Convergent evolution

Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time.

Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups.

The recurrent Convergent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight.

Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are analogous, whereas homologous structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions.

Convergent evolution is similar to parallel evolution, which occurs when two independent species evolve in the same direction and thus independently acquire similar characteristics; for instance, gliding frogs have evolved in parallel from multiple types of tree frog.

Many instances of convergent evolution are known in plants, including the repeated development of C4 photosynthesis, seed dispersal by fleshy fruits adapted to be eaten by animals, and carnivory.

When two species are similar in a particular character, evolution is defined as parallel if the ancestors were similar, and convergent if they were not.

Many examples of convergent evolution exist in insects in terms of developing resistance at a molecular level to toxins.

One of the best-known examples of convergent evolution is the camera eye of cephalopods, vertebrates and cnidaria .

The methods applied to infer convergent evolution depend on whether pattern-based or process-based convergence is expected.