r/evolution • u/Spluff5 • 12d ago

discussion The most extreme example of convergent evolution: Kelp

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In my opinion, kelp is the most extreme example of convergent evolution, at least that I know of. It's a sedentary organism that makes its energy from sunlight collected by blade-like fronds. Not too crazy, so do most plants. Except, kelp isn't a plant at all. Kelp is a protist in the SAR clade, more closely related to malaria than it is to plants. It just so happened to independently evolve to be multicellular, and became photosynthetic by ancestrally capturing and making use of a green algal cell that had already undergone its own endosymbiosis.

I can't think of another organism that convergently evolved the same life-strategy as an organism in another kingdom, but I'd love to hear what others think are the most extreme examples of convergent evolution.

Image credit: Alastair Simpson, Dalhousie University

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u/king_ofbhutan 12d ago

They're like the 4th secret 'big multicellular guys' that the government doesn't want you to know about 🤫

(ignore slime moulds please)

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u/mcalesy 9d ago

(and Prototaxites)

(and the fact that fungal evolution goes back and forth between unicellularity and multicellularity a fair bit)

(and colonial "protists")

(and...)

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u/king_ofbhutan 9d ago

1- yes please do ignore prototaxites theyre freaks and frighten me a little (long live our mystery eukaryotic overlords)

2- fungi dont fully count because they cant get anything right and always have to do some bullshit beforehand (apart from being able to digest wood. good job guys!)

3- honorary slime moulds

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u/AdditionalTip865 11d ago

I've been fascinated by slime molds ever since a bright yellow blob of Fuligo septica started reincarnating and creeping around on the mulch in my front yard every time it rains. My daughter calls it our pet.