#skolecization

[gelastocoridae]

Convergent evolution does not relatedness make. But! If you know what to look for beyond skin deep a lot of morphological traits, especially in combination, can be great indicators (helpful in IDing species that outwardly look the same) of their place in the family tree!

E.g.

The shape of the angular process of a mammal jaw bone tells you if it's a marsupial without fail. (Between that and the teeth, you can spot a piece of opossum skull from miles away in a pile of countless other bones. I sure have.)

The shape of auditory bulbs in the skull helps tell orders of Carnívora apart.

The shape of teeth and the number of toes help tell groups of ungulates apart.

The cusps of teeth, number of teeth, and spacing of teeth will help categorize entire Genuses, Families and Orders!

The pre-maxilla and nasal opening in the skull tells you if it's a bat. Gotta echolocate somehow.

Beak and foot shape combined, or posture, voice, or diet - while not always rules - really do help you tell families of birds apart! Falcons have less powerful talons and longer toes than other raptors, plus a notched beak, and often hold their food in one foot like it's a candy bar a parrot would. The feet will tell you if it's related to a hummingbird and not a swallow (*cough* swifts *cough*). From a distance a dove on the ground is definitely a dove, a quail/gamebird is definitely a quail/gamebird. A corvid definitely sounds like a corvid (especially as babies being fed), including jays.

The gut type and incisor teeth will tell a pig relative from another "hooved" animal (quotations bc elephant/rhino/hippo feet are hooves too).

All sharks lack a swim bladder; they stay afloat with a huge fatty liver instead.

All salmon/trout have a tiny dorsal lobe/boneless fin in some way. (Plus different "fish" groups can be distinguished by scale type, mouth placement, fin and tail shape/placement, etc)

Does it produce milk from a mammary gland? It's a mammal. Does this mammal lay eggs? Cool technically so do the rest of us if you wanna get into it but also congrats now you know it's an echidna/platypus.

Does it have a cell wall? Yes. Does it have chloroplasts and make its own food? No. It's a fungus.

When it is a cluster of cells just developing, is it bilaterally symmetric? No? Wait, yes and then no? Ok that's a starfish.

Does it form its butt hole before its mouth hole or the other way around? Well that's what makes us more similar to starfish and sea anemones than to octopi, and arthropods

And that's just for starters! You start with the general traits and narrow it down. That's how it works without genetically sequencing every single thing on the planet.

That rabbit/hare post is messing me up. I’d thought they were synonyms. Their development and social behavior are all different. They can’t even interbreed. They don’t have the same number of chromosomes. Dogs, wolves, jackals, and coyotes can mate with each other and have fertile offspring but rabbits and hares cant even make infertile ones bc they just die in the womb. Wack.

[gelastocoridae]

Starting a new tag called Skolecization from the Greek word skolex for "worm", for any animals that have convergently evolved worm traits. Nature's tendency to create worm.