How can two species that look similar each other be more distantly related than to two species that look very different from each other?
1 Answer
Nature selects the traits that give an organism an advantage over others. These traits are found in many other organisms. What they evolved from differs, but their mutations remain the same/similar.
Explanation:
There are two factors that allows an organisms to evolve and live. They are:
- Random mutations.
- The role of the environment.
The first factor, random mutations, have no specific role in answering your question. What matters is the second factor.
Now, as we all know, these mutations cannot help an organism unless there is some sort of requirement that ultimately leads to the organism gaining an advantage.
This is evident in all occasions. Normally, an organism will mutate and gain a certain trait. If this trait is beneficial, the organism will survive and pass this trait. Other organisms are susceptible to gaining this trait but nature selects for or against these traits for the organism.
This can be found (for example) between dolphins and sharks. They are very different from each other, but they all gain a certain characteristic that gives them an advantage over other animals (keep in mind these animals gain advantages over their predators).
A common characteristic in this case, would be a their stream-lined body for speed.
Like I said before, these animals are very different from each other, but they evolved to have similar characteristics in order to maximize efficiency when hunting. This is only one of the many examples of morphological interactions.
Hope this helps :)
