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Information about Evolutionary Relay

In evolutionary biology, evolutionary relay describes how independent species acquire similar characteristics as a result of their evolution in similar ecosystems, but not at the same time.

A classic example is the dorsal fin of the extinct ichthyosaurs and the shark. Another example is the streamlined, fish-like shape of the ichthyosaurs and the shape of extant dolphins and small whales. Except for the tail fins, cetaceans greatly resemble fish in outline, but are instead descended from four-legged land mammals. Their closest land relative today is thought to be the hippopotamus. Their modern shape is due to their water-based life cycle, as is the shape of the fish.

Pterosaurs resembled bats not only regarding flight, but also in regard to hair. Some species of pterosaur actually had hair or fur, presumably as a result of separate evolution, as the common ancestor of the archosaurs (whence pterosaurs are thought to have come) was quite distant from the therapsid mammal ancestors.

Evolutionary relay is a similar phenomenon to convergent evolution and parallel evolution, but they can all be distinguished. In convergent evolution, independent organisms acquire similar characteristics while evolving in different habitats (e.g. bird and fly wings). Parallel evolution occurs when two independent species evolve together at the same time in the same ecospace and acquire similar characteristics (e.g. extinct browsing-horses and extinct paleotheres).

Enlarge picture
Bee hovering in flight

Other examples

Enlarge picture
Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering in flight
  • Bees and hummingbirds independently developed the ability to hover in flight to get nectar from flowers.
  • Pill bugs and armadillos both have segmented body armor so they can roll up into an armored ball to deter predators.

See also


Topics in evolutionary ecology
 •  • [ e]
Patterns of evolution: Convergent evolution • Evolutionary relay • Parallel evolution
Colour and shape: Aposematism • Mimicry • Crypsis
Interactions between species: Mutualism • Cooperation • Predation • Parasitism
Evolutionary biology is a sub-field of biology concerned with the origin and descent of species, as well as their change, multiplication, and diversity over time.
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dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of some fishes, whales, dolphins, and porpoises, as well as the (extinct) ichthyosaurs. Its main purpose is to stabilize the animal against rolling and assist in sudden turns.
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extinction is the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point).
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Ichthyosauria
Blainville, 1835

Families
  • Ichthyosauridae
  • Leptonectidae
  • Mixosauridae
  • Ophthalmosauridae
  • Shastasauridae
  • Stenopterygiidae
  • Teretocnemidae
Ichthyosaurs (Greek for 'fish lizard' -
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SHARK

General
Vincent Rijmen, Joan Daemen, Bart Preneel, Antoon Bosselaers, Erik De Win
1996

KHAZAD, Rijndael

Cipher detail
Key size(s):| 128 bits

Block size(s):| 64 bits
Substitution-permutation network
6

In cryptography,
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Delphinidae and Platanistoidea
Gray, 1821

Genera

See article below.
Dolphins are aquatic mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from 1.
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whale can refer to all cetaceans, to just the larger ones, or only to members of particular families within the order Cetacea. The last definition is the one followed here. Whales are those cetaceans which are neither dolphins (i.e.
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Cetacea
Brisson, 1762

Diversity
Around 88 species; see list of cetaceans or below.

Suborders

Mysticeti
Odontoceti
Archaeoceti (extinct)
(see text for families)

The order Cetacea
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses
  • Subclass †Allotheria*
  • Subclass Prototheria
  • Subclass Theria

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Hippopotamus

Species: H. amphibius

Binomial name
Hippopotamus amphibius
Linnaeus, 1758[1]


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Pterosauria
Kaup, 1834

Suborders

Pterodactyloidea
Rhamphorhynchoidea *

Pterosaurs (/ˈtɛ.
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Hair is a filamentous outgrowth of protein, found only on mammals. It projects from the epidermis, though it grows from hair follicles deep in the dermis. Although many other organisms, especially insects, show filamentous outgrowths, these are not considered "hair".
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fur refers to the body hair of non-human mammals also known as the pelage (like the term plumage in birds). Fur comes from the coats of animals; the animal's coat may consist of short ground hair, long guard hair, and, in some cases, medium awn hair.
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Archosauria
Cope, 1869

Clades
  • Crurotarsi
  • Aetosauria
  • Crocodilia (crocodiles)
  • Phytosauria

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Therapsida *
Broom, 1905

Clades
  • Suborder Biarmosuchia *
  • Suborder Dinocephalia
  • Suborder Anomodontia *
  • Infraorder Dicynodontia
  • (unranked) Theriodontia *

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In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution is the process whereby organisms not closely related (not monophyletic), independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches[1].
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Parallel evolution is the independent evolution of similar traits, starting from a similar ancestral condition due to similar environments or other evolutionary pressures[1].
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Diptera
Linnaeus, 1758

Suborders

Nematocera (includes Eudiptera)
Brachycera

True flies are insects of the Order Diptera (Greek: di = two, and pteron
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A wing is an appendage used for flight by an animal or an apparatus used to create lift in aeronautics.

Wing or wings may also refer to:
  • Insect wing, outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly

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BEE may refer to:
  • Black Economic Empowerment, the policy of post-apartheid affirmative action in South Africa
  • Biblical Education by Extension, a Christian program designed to instruct theology in countries with weak theological infrastructure.

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Trochilidae
Vigors, 1825

Subfamilies

Phaethornithinae
Trochilinae

For a taxonomic list of genera, see:
  • List of hummingbirds in taxonomic order
For an alphabetic species list, see:
  • Alphabetic species list



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Armadillidiidae
Brandt, 1833

Genera
See text

Armadillidiidae is a family of woodlice, a terrestrial crustacean group in the order Isopoda.
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Cingulata
Illiger, 1811

Families
  • Pampatheriidae (prehistoric)
  • Glyptodontidae (prehistoric)
  • Dasypodidae


Armadillos are small placental mammals, known for having a bony armor shell.
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In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution is the process whereby organisms not closely related (not monophyletic), independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches[1].
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Parallel evolution is the independent evolution of similar traits, starting from a similar ancestral condition due to similar environments or other evolutionary pressures[1].
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MIMIC, known in capitalized form only, is a former simulation computer language developed 1964 by H. E. Petersen, F. J. Sansom and L. M. Warshawsky at the Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, USA.
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Evolutionary ecology lies at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology. It approaches the study of ecology in a way that explicitly considers the evolutionary histories of species and the interactions between them.
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In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution is the process whereby organisms not closely related (not monophyletic), independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches[1].
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