MartinV writes:
Not at all. Convergence contradicts neodarwinian conception. Convergence says that many similar organs/structures of different taxa evolved independently. Many convergence of unrelated species and taxa are so striking that some other mechanism should be behind them.
No no no, we're not talking about
Convergent Evolution here. We're not talking about similar structures appearing independently. This thread is about
Convergent Phylogentic Histories (for want of a better term, I'm sure someone will provide one if there is one). By this I mean, the two families underwent speciaction events
at the same time repeatedly.
Now why would two completely unrelated families undergo speciation events at the same time, over and over again? If you assert that speciation is driven by forces intrinsic to the species in question then this result cannot be explained. As has been mentioned many times, why should the gophers
Evolutionary Clock follow the same script as the lices?
The only reasonable explanation is that the speciation events are driven by external factors that are unconnected to the species (ie environmental factors), and the both the species are affected by this force.
(I'd be interested to know if my summarisation of this thread is accurate).
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