Homoplasy refers to similarity among unrelated organisms. The wings of birds, bats, and insects are homoplastic features because the common ancestor of these three groups lacked wings. Spines (modified leaves) and thorns (modified stems) are an example...

In ecologically similar habitats it can sometimes happen that apparently similar organisms arise. These organisms may be entirely unrelated, their similarities coming about as a result of the same selective pressures being applied to each set of...

Convergent evolution is a term used to describe similarities in organisms that are evolutionarily unrelated. Selective pressures within an environment can produce similar structures in unrelated species. For example, the wings of birds and insects are...

A term used to describe the EVOLUTION, independently but in parallel, of similar features in different SPECIES. The most common example is that wings are found on birds and bats, but there is no direct relationship between...

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]. It is the opposite...

Abstract.-Global information on Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and extant non-angiosperm leaf morphologies has been gathered to investigate morphological diversity in leaves consistent with marginal growth and to identify likely departures from such development. Two patterns emerge from the principal coordinates analysis of this data set: (1)...

Tocopherols (collectively known as vitamin E) are lipophilic antioxidants that are essential in the human diet. Not surprisingly, most of what is known about the biological functions of tocopherols comes from studies of mammalian systems, yet they are synthesized only by photosynthetic eukaryotes and...