Parallel evolution

Parallel evolution is the independent emergence of similar traits in related lineages. It often involves changes in the same genes or developmental pathways.

Natural selection: The process by which heritable traits that improve reproductive success become more common in a population. Similar environments can favor similar traits independently in related lineages.
Convergent evolution: The independent evolution of similar traits in distantly related lineages. Unlike parallel evolution, convergence usually involves lineages with less recent shared ancestry.
Stickleback evolution: The repeated evolutionary changes in stickleback fishes, including transitions between marine and freshwater forms. Freshwater populations independently evolved reduced armor and pelvic structures from marine ancestors.
Evolution: Change in heritable characteristics of populations across generations. Parallel evolution is a pattern within the broader process of evolutionary change.
Genetic parallelism: The independent evolution of similar traits through changes in the same genes or genetic pathways. It describes a genetic route by which parallel traits can arise.
Homoplasy: A similarity between organisms that did not arise from inheritance of that trait from their common ancestor. This broader category includes similarities produced by parallel or convergent evolution.
Cavefish evolution: The evolution of traits in fish populations adapted to life in dark caves. Related cavefish populations independently evolved traits such as eye loss and altered pigmentation.
Phylogenetics: The study of evolutionary relationships among organisms using inherited characteristics and genetic data. Phylogenies establish whether lineages are related enough for a comparison to count as parallel.
Developmental biology: The study of how organisms grow and develop, from fertilization through maturity. Shared developmental pathways can channel related lineages toward similar forms.
Homology: Similarity between traits due to inheritance from a common ancestor. Ancestral inheritance can resemble parallel evolution but does not involve independent origins.

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