analogous evolution
nounUK /əˈnæl.ə.ɡəs ˌiː.vəˈluː.ʃən/
US /əˈnæl.ə.ɡəs ˌev.əˈluː.ʃən/
When different animals grow similar body parts because they live in similar ways.
The wings of bats and insects are a result of analogous evolution.
OTHER MEANINGS
2. The independent development of similar traits in unrelated species due to similar environments.
Analogous evolution explains why dolphins and sharks both have streamlined bodies.
3. A pattern in which different lineages solve the same survival problem in comparable ways.
Eyes evolved through analogous evolution in both vertebrates and octopuses.
4. The process by which similar ecological niches produce similar forms across distant branches of the tree of life.
Cacti in deserts and euphorbias in Africa show analogous evolution.