When similar environmental pressures produce organisms with similar traits in separate regions of the world, yet the organisms are NOT closely related.

When similar environmental pressures produce organisms with similar traits in separate regions of the world, yet the organisms are NOT closely related.

• A. Divergent evolution
• B. Convergent evolution
• C. Adaptive radiation
• D. Coevolution

Answer: (B)

Convergent evolution happens when species that are not closely related face similar environmental challenges and independently evolve similar adaptations. Natural selection favors traits that work well in a given environment, so unrelated lineages can end up with analogous features that look alike because they solve the same problem, even though they don’t share a recent common ancestor. An easy way to picture this is wings in birds and bats or the streamlined bodies of dolphins and sharks—the traits serve the same function (flight or swimming) but arose separately in different lineages. In contrast, divergent evolution involves related species becoming more different, adaptive radiation describes one lineage diversifying into many related species, and coevolution involves two species evolving in response to each other rather than to similar environments.

Convergent evolution happens when species that are not closely related face similar environmental challenges and independently evolve similar adaptations. Natural selection favors traits that work well in a given environment, so unrelated lineages can end up with analogous features that look alike because they solve the same problem, even though they don’t share a recent common ancestor. An easy way to picture this is wings in birds and bats or the streamlined bodies of dolphins and sharks—the traits serve the same function (flight or swimming) but arose separately in different lineages. In contrast, divergent evolution involves related species becoming more different, adaptive radiation describes one lineage diversifying into many related species, and coevolution involves two species evolving in response to each other rather than to similar environments.