How often, and to what extent, do similar ecologies elicit distantly related taxa to evolve towards the same phenotype? Alike phenotypes can arise when species exploit a common trophic niche and evolutionarily respond in a congruent manner to those selective constraints required for particular function or biomechanical task (Herrel et al., 2008; Vincent et al., 2009; Adams & Nistri, 2010). This is the pattern of convergence, the repeated evolution towards similar phenotypes among multiple lineages that ancestrally lack the trait (Stayton, 2015). As such, convergent evolution is regularly treated as evidence for adaptation (Harvey & Pagel, 1991; Larson & Losos, 1996). Some of the best known examples of convergent evolution are seen in the similarity in body plans of the succulent plants in Euphorbiaceae and Cactaceae (Alvarado-Cárdenas et al., 2013) and Old and New World anteaters (Beck et al., 2006), or the similarity of skull shape between the marsupial Thylacine (Tasmanian wolf) and that of the placental canids (Wroe & Milne, 2007; Goswami et al., 2011).
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This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Serb, J. M., Sherratt, E., Alejandrino, A. and Adams, D. C. (2017), Phylogenetic convergence and multiple shell shape optima for gliding scallops (Bivalvia: Pectinidae). J. Evol. Biol., 30: 1736–1747, which has been published in final form at doi:10.1111/jeb.13137 . This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.