Why are odontocete cetaceans and crocodilians presented as an example of converg

Question

Why are odontocete cetaceans and crocodilians presented as an example of convergent evolution? Why are certain rostrum/mandible traits in these two taxa considered analogous instead of homologous? write in your own words?

The striking resemblance of long-snouted aquatic mammals and reptiles has long been considered an example of morphological convergence, yet the true cause of this similarity remains untested. We addressed this deficit through three-dimensional morphometric analysis of the full diversity of crocodilian and toothed whale (Odontoceti) skull shapes. Our focus on biomechanically important aspects of shape allowed us to overcome difficulties involved in comparing mammals and reptiles, which have fundamental differences in the number and positionof skull bones. We examined whether diet habitat and prey size correlated with skull shape using phylogenetically informed statistical procedures. Crocodilians and toothed whales have a similar range of skull shapes, varying extremely elongate. This spectrum of shapes represented more of the total variation in our dataset than between phylogenetic groups. The most elongate species (river dolphins and gharials) are extremely convergent in skull shape, clustering outside of the range of the other taxa. Our results suggest the remarkable convergence between long-snouted river dolphins and gharials is driven by diet rather than physical factors intrinsic to riverine environments. ago, crocodilians and odontocetes have evolved a remarkably similar morphological solution to feeding on similar prey from extremely short and broad to Despite diverging approximately 288 million years

Explanation / Answer

In the process of convergent evolution the organisms which are not closely related (uncommon ancestors) may individually evolve similar traits because they have to adapt similar environmental conditions and activities.

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