Twitter Thread: Animals That Look Similar But Aren't Genetically Related At All

Author image for Mariel Ruvinsky
Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor
Feb 24, 2022 12:00 PM EST

Every once in a while, we find out some random fact about an animal that seriously takes us off guard. We think we know them, and then suddenly we don't. Like when we found out that elephants hold funerals for their dead and worship the moon, that wild foxes really like banjo music and will stop to listen to it if you play it for them, and that ring-tailed cats are not actually cats. Yeah, we know - what? 

There is so, so much to learn when it comes to animals. And today, twitter has discovered that though some animals look very similar to one another, they are not actually genetically related. Of course, said thread went viral, and people started freaking out. Like- who knew that a tiny elephant shrew is more closely related an elephant than an actual shrew. 

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  • 01
    Font - ben "darth normal" flores ... @limitlessjest It's so insane that alligators and crocodiles aren't at all genetically related. Is there any other case of similar evolution like that 4:26 AM - Feb 20, 2022 · Twitter for iPhone 4,919 Retweets 1,403 Quote Tweets 103.1K Likes
    via @limitlessjest

    We are sure that there are plenty of instances of things like this. The animal world is so huge. We are finding out new things every single day. Honestly, we love to see the interaction under this thread, the fact that people were as interested as we are in finding out more about this. 

  • 02
    Bird - ben "darth normal" flores ... @limitlessjest Craziest one I have learned about since posting this is turkeys and guinea fowl. Maybe appear even more similar than gators and crocs but also not at all related. Mom also saw this and texted me and said me and my dad. I asked if she was joking she said no 7:12 PM · Feb 20, 2022 - Twitter for iPhone 241 Retweets 17 Quote Tweets 13.2K Likes
    via @limitlessjest

    When we first saw these two pictures one next to the other, we did not think for a moment that these are two different animals. In our heads, they just registered as the same one. They really do look similar. The animal world is so cool, we don't know how we manage to ever forget it.

  • 03
    Purple - ben "darth normal" flores ... @limitlessjest Wait this one is even crazier (obviously praying they both independently go extinct) TODAY TODA D SAY TODAY 9:39 PM Feb 20, 2022 · Twitter for iPhone 368 Retweets 15 Quote Tweets 13.8K Likes
    via @limitlessjest
  • 04
    Flower - i bless the rains down in castamere @Chinchillazllla Replying to @limitlessjest hummingbirds and sunbirds 6:18 AM - Feb 20, 2022 - Twitter for Android 83 Retweets 1 Quote Tweet 7,090 Likes
    via @Chinchillazllla
  • 05
    Plant - i bless the rains down in castamere ... @Chinchillazlla Replying to @Chinchillazlla and @limitlessjest and, more interestingly, the hummingbird hawk-moth 6:19 AM - Feb 20, 2022 - Twitter for Android 110 Retweets 69 Quote Tweets 7,392 Likes
    via @Chinchillazlla
  • 06
    Organism - MushroomWatcher ... @MushroomWatcher Replying to @limitlessjest Crabs in general. Carcinization is the trend of evolution turning multiple genetic lines of crustaceans into crabs a b d e h g k 6:21 AM Feb 2o, 2022 - Twitter for iPhone 585 Retweets 101 Quote Tweets 20.4K Likes
    via @MushroomWatcher
  • 07
    Arthropod - MushroomWatcher ... @MushroomWatcher Replying to @MushroomWatcher and @limitlessjest Animals Keep Evolving Into Crabs, Which Is Somewhat Disturbing It's okay if this weirds you out. BY CAROLINE DELBERT OCT 19, 2020 The Crab Cycle There is only one step and it is crab adis with maatie 6:28 AM - Feb 20, 2022 - Twitter for iPhone 1,098 Retweets 90 Quote Tweets 21K Likes
    via @MushroomWatcher
  • 08
    Clothing - iain ... @iainvention Replying to @limitlessjest evolution new animal or crab again? I made a new animal crab again tEunny.ce 7:25 AM Feb 20, 2022 · Twitter for iPhone 686 Retweets 7 Quote Tweets 20.7K Likes
    via @iainvention
  • 09
    Brown - olivia @OliviaSerio Replying to @limitlessjest not quite the same but i was fascinated to find out how different hares and rabbits are (to the point they are incapable of reproduction together) rabbit hare 2:11 PM - Feb 20, 2022 - Twitter for iPhone 21 Retweets 6 Quote Tweets 1,703 Likes
    via @OliviaSerio
  • 10
    Product - Sealions R. Good, Actually @CallMeXennial Replying to @limitlessjest Um... what? All modern crocodilians (alligators, crocodiles, caimans, gharials) diverged from a common ancestor in the Cretaceous (~80mya) and are more closely related to each other than to any non- crocodilians (i.e., crocodilians are a monophyletic clade). (1/2) coelacanth platypus opossum armadillo elephant 6op mouse human python lizard green sea turtle Fast Chinese softshell turtle alligator gharial crocodile ostr
    via @CallMeXennial
  • 11
    Font - Sealions R. Good, Actually @CallMeXennial Replying to @CallMeXennial and @limitlessjest Are you maybe thinking of the fact that crocodilians are more closely related to birds than to other modern reptiles (because they are archosaurs, like the dinosaurs were)? THAT is true, but crocodilians are all closely related to each other. (2/2) Lizards and snakes Crocodilians Pterosaurs Common Ornithischian dinosaurs ancestor of crocodilians, dinosaurs, and birds Saurischian dinosaurs Birds taura C
    via @CallMeXennial
  • 12
    Font - daebae ... @daemonicmoon Replying to @limitlessjest welcome to the convergent evolution rabbit hole Convergent Evolution 9 Not all similarity is inherited from a common ancestor: Species from different evolutionary branches may resemble each other if they have similar ecological Reptile: icthyosaur (extinct) roles. This is called convergent evolution. 9 Similarity due to convergence is not a basis for including species in the same taxonomic group. Fish: shark Example: The swimming carnivo
    via @daemonicmoon
  • 13
    Bird - wilf ... @friendlykitties Replying to @limitlessjest the first pic is an elephant shrew. which is more closely related to an elephant than an actual shrew (second pic). 7:54 AM - Feb 20, 2022 - Twitter for iPhone 29 Retweets 1 Quote Tweet 1,320 Likes
    via @friendlykitties
  • 14
    Vertebrate - dr. the best-laid trans @ElectricClair Replying to @limitlessjest "true" moles, golden moles, marsupial moles, and pink fairy armadillos are totally unrelated but have very similar body plans 9:06 AM - Feb 20, 2022 · Twitter for Android 173 Retweets 40 Quote Tweets 6,333 Likes
    via @ElectricClair
  • 15
    Font - Geist Riot ... @whiteheatgames Replying to @ElectricClair and @limitlessjest Oh my GOD that pink fairy armadillo is ridiculously, insanely cute. Like a gerbil got dressed up for larping. 9:40 AM - Feb 20, 2022 - Twitter for Android 48 Retweets 1 Quote Tweet 4,007 Likes
    via @whiteheatgames

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cool twitter thread facts interesting animal facts lol tweets viral silly funny tweets animal tweets funny animals
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