convergent evolution

noun

1. the appearance of apparently similar structures in organisms of different lines of descent.

convergent evolution

1. The development through evolution of similar features by organisms with distinctly different ancestors. A common example of this is the evolution of wings in insects and birds .

Word History and Origins

Origin of convergent evolution¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

This is the same process that occurs over tens of thousands, even millions of years in living creatures, from slugs to dogs to you and me, producing the incredible diversity we see in the tree of life along with startling replays of the same idea, known formally as convergent evolution.

From Salon

Convergent evolution is what we see when we observe that bats and birds have similar development of their arms into gliding wings, which initially allowed them to glide, and then to fly.

From Salon

Groh’s area of study is the evolution of crocodiles and their relatives from two hundred million years ago to now, looking for example at the convergent evolution of long, narrow snouts in various different branches of their family tree.

From Salon

McInerney was lead author on a study on convergent evolution in bacteria that helps us understand how this background might work, and to distinguish these two ways convergence may occur.

From Salon

The details of convergent evolution might of course be more complex in the eukaryotes, multicellular organisms like humans or decapods with large genomes, the total genetic material of an organism.

From Salon