Which of the following animal pairings demonstrates the principle of convergent evolution?
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Correct Answer: B. The shark and the dolphin
Convergent evolution is the process where organisms from different ancestral linage, grow to look alike and share similar physical characteristics because they live in the same or very similar environments. Whereas divergent evolution is defined as the evolutionary process whereby organisms from the same ancestral lineage differ in appearance. This difference would result because of the different habitats of the organisms. Only the shark and the fish are from different animal lineages and look very similar because they both live in aquatic environments. The other animal pairings all originate from a similar ancestral lineage and have grown to look very different over time because of their terrestrial habitats.
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