evolutionary convergence
nounUK /ˌiːvəˈluːʃənəri kənˈvɜːdʒəns/
US /ˌevəˈluːʃəneri kənˈvɜːrdʒəns/
When different animals grow to look or act alike because they live in similar places.
The wings of bats and birds are an example of evolutionary convergence.
OTHER MEANINGS
2. The independent development of similar traits in species from different ancestors.
Scientists studied evolutionary convergence in the eyes of octopuses and mammals.
3. In biology, the process where unrelated organisms come to share similar features over time.
Evolutionary convergence explains why dolphins and sharks have similar body shapes.
4. A pattern in which separate lineages solve the same survival problem in comparable ways.
Cacti in deserts and euphorbias in Africa show evolutionary convergence.