15 Geographically Distant Animal Pairs That Are Weirdly Similar

These two little animals developed the "body-as-parachute" idea separately. The left shows the Flying squirrel., found in North America or Northern Europe. The other animal is a Sugar glider., found in Australia, New Guinea, and YouTube videos. Their similar "wings" and big eyes show They show independent adaptations.These adaptations formed because they share similar lifestyles. Both leap from tree tops and hunt at night. The flying squirrel is a placental mammal, like humans. The sugar glider is a marsupial mammal, like a kangaroo.

These two are actually...Technically,unrelated, despite their obvious similarities. The toucan on the left lives in the American tropics. Toucans get attention, but hornbills are also good. They live in tropical Africa and Asia.Alsoevolved a large, light billto reach fruit on branches that cannot hold their weight.This shows convergent evolution. The environments pushed evolution to create those large bills.

The hummingbird on the left is aThe New World. (Americas) bird. The similarThe sunbird.It is from the...The Old World. (Africa, Europe, and Asia). These birds belong to different orders but share similar lifestyles.Encyclopedia Britannica. notes they both "dart among tropical flowers, feeding upon nectar" and look alike because their feeding habits evolved that way. Some sunbirds hover like hummingbirds when they feed. Both sunbirds and hummingbirds living at high altitudes enter torpor at night, just like stoners in Denver.The hummingbird enters torpor.It enters torpor at night, just like stoners in Denver.

These look very similar, right? The left shows an antelope (a gazelle) and the right shows aThe pronghorn.. Pronghorns live in North America, while antelopes live in Africa and Asia. Think of the classic American song, "Home on the Range," which says, "Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam/Where the deer and the antelope play"?There are no antelopes in America.. You have been misled! Despite appearances, the pronghorn's closest "relative" is actually the giraffe. They share the samebiomesas antelopes, which likely caused their similar behaviors.as antelope.This likely led to their similar behaviors.

Yes, the small animal on the left is aThe kangaroo and cavy are small.species of kangaroo. This shows the point better, but even large roos share traits withCavies.The cavy, also called a dillaby or mara, lives in Argentina. Kangaroos belong in Australia, as everyone knows. The Lincoln Park Zoo's page on cavies explains this well. Kangaroos have long rear legs. They have brown bodies with white undersides and a white patch on their hindquarters. A large snout and big eyes stand out on their face. The kangaroo is a marsupial; the cavy is not.

The Chevrotain And Paca appear in the list '15 Geographically Distant Animal Pairs That Are Weirdly Similar'.The chevrotainThe chevrotain, native to Africa and Asia, contrasts with the paca.The paca comes from South America. Convergent evolution caused both animals to have similar markings on their torsos. The chevrotain is a hoofed animal, but the paca is a rodent. Their similar appearance shows they have similar environmental demands.The Chevrotain is from South America. Convergent evolution caused scientists to find similar markings on their torsos. The chevrotain is a hoofed animal; the paca is a rodent. Their "They share similar environmental demands." Made them analogous creatures, despite the Atlantic Ocean separating them. They filled the same roles in their separate ecosystems."

On the left is an African pygmy hippopotamus. On the right is a South American capybara. Evolution shaped these animals: the capybara is the world's largest rodent. The pygmy hippo is just a tiny hippo. They evolved comparable sizes, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.Encyclopedia BritannicaThey evolved with similar but separate paths. Both animals live in swampy tropical forest habitats and are semiaquatic residents. Both possess small, round ears, a short neck, a squarish muzzle, and no noticeable tail.

Evolving into a flightless bird seems hard. But this does not stop these animals.This is literally keeping them down.Convergent evolutionConvergent evolution led to the flightless rhea.rheaThe Americas have the flightless rhea on the left, and Africa holds the flightless ostrich. A rhea is smaller than an ostrich and has different colors. Both species fill a similar role in their ecosystems.A rhea is smaller than an ostrich.A rhea has different coloring, but both species fulfill a similar role in their respective ecosystems.

The kangaroo rat and the hopping mouse each evolved unique ways to handle desert heat. The kangaroo rat's desert is in North America. The hopping mouse hops across the deserts of Australia. They both cope with heat similarly.WikipediaWikipedia notes that the kangaroo rat and the hopping mouse both have a small, rounded body shape with very large hind legs and long thin tails. They also show a characteristic bipedal hop and nocturnal, burrowing and seed-eating behaviors. Like other animals that evolved this way, they fill similar niches in their ecosystems.

These two share similarities with the flying squirrel and sugar glider. They are very alike in many ways but differ in one major aspect.hugeThe Australian marsupial mole is a marsupial by name. The standard North American mole is placental, like humans. Both species burrow through soft soil to find and eat insects and have a streamlined body shape with modified forelimbs for digging, according to PBS. Australia's status as an island for about 100 million years caused this type of convergent evolution.PBSnotes, "burrow through soft soil to find and eat insects" and have a "streamlined body shape" with "modified forelimbs for digging." Australia's status as an island for the last 100 million years or so caused fascinating convergent evolution like this.

Another case ofconvergent evolutionAustralia-style. The wombat of Australia (right) uses rodent-like teeth to eat roots and other plants, just like the North American groundhog. Both animals excavate burrows. They share the same tooth structure and type.structure and type of teethThis results from the same selective pressures of evolution. Since this is Australia, the wombat is a marsupial, while the groundhog is placental.

European rabbits share traits with the Australian marsupial bilby. They both have well-developed hindlimbs showing their hopping movement and long ears emphasizing hearing, according to PBS.PBS. Like many other Australian examples on this list, the Land Down Under's isolated status as an island for over 100 million years caused convergent evolution like this.

The Tasmanian wolf is extinct, butonly recently(1936). The Tasmanian wolf lived in Tasmania and Australia. Like many Australian examples of convergent evolution, it was a marsupial. Being a marsupial and having tiger-like stripes on its back set it apart from wolves elsewhere. It filled a similar niche before it died out.

These tank-like animals are not related, butevolved similar characteristics.The giant armadillo is native to North America, while the giantpangolinis from Africa. Both are mammals, and both evolved hard exteriors due to similar environmental conditions and evolutionary pressure.armadilloThe armadillo evolved a shell made from plates of dermal bone; the pangolin developed keratin scales (similar to horns).

These two anteaters look different, but they act similarly. They both have a long, sticky tongue, few teeth, a rugged stomach, and large salivary glands.a long, sticky tongue, few teeth, a rugged stomach, and large salivary glandsso they eat ants. This is a very particular and somewhat gross example of convergent evolution.particularbut they did what they had to do. They did this on different continents: the giant anteater on the left is native to South America, while the spiny variety comes from Oceania.