Evolution: Contingent Predictability in Mammalian Evolution

Abstract

Convergence of distantly related species to similar forms speaks to the predictability of evolution, but we still lack general insights into whether convergence is more common or rare than we would expect. Using a global dataset of mammalian species, Mazel and colleagues find that both convergence and divergence occur more often than expected. Convergence was especially common at broad scales that involved Australia, speaking to the extraordinary replicate mammalian communities found there.