CONVERGENT EVOLUTION ON EARTH LESSONS FOR THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE

An analysis of patterns of convergent evolution on Earth that suggests where we might look for similar convergent forms on other planets.

Why does a sea lily look like a palm tree? And why is a sea lily called a “lily” when it is a marine animal and not a plant? Many marine animals bear a noticeable similarity in form to land-dwelling plants. And yet these marine animal forms evolved in the oceans first; land plants independently and convergently evolved similar forms much later in geologic time. In this book, George McGhee analyzes patterns of convergent evolution on Earth and argues that these patterns offer lessons for the search for life elsewhere in the universe.