The Similarity Trap

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As we try to figure out the evolutionary trees for languages and species, we sometimes get led astray by similar but unrelated words and traits.
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To learn more, start your googling with these keywords:
Cladistics: A method of recreating evolutionary trees based on evidence about relationships.
Etymology: The study of the origin of words and how they have changed throughout history.
Convergent Evolution: A process whereby different species evolve similar traits in order to adapt to similar environments.
Polyphyly: A group containing members with multiple ancestral sources.
Homoplasy: A trait shared by a group of species that is not shared in their common ancestor.
False Cognates: Pairs of words with similar sounds and meanings but unrelated etymologies.
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A photographer who has taken amazing photos of unrelated people who look alike:
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Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer: David Goldenberg (@dgoldenberg)
Script Editor: Emily Elert (@eelert)
Video Illustrator: Jessika Raisor
Video Director: David Goldenberg, Emily Elert
Video Narrator: Emily Elert
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Kate Yoshida, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder:
Image Credits:
Lappet-faced Vulture (Old World) - Steve Garvie
Turkey vulture (New World) - Flickr User minicooper93402
Crested Porcupine (Old World) - Flickr user 57777529@N02
North American Porcupine (New World) - iStock.com/GlobalP
Chinchilla lanigera - Nicolas Guérin
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Naked Mole Rat - Roman Klementschitz
Ganges river dolphin - Zahangir Alom, NOAA (Public Domain)
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin - Flickr user 53344659@N05
Orcinus orcas - Robert Pittman, NOAA (Public Domain)
Euphorbia obesa - Frank Vincentz
Astrophytum asterias - David Midgley
Sweet William Dwarf - Nicholas M. Bashour
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References:
Atkinson, Q. and Gray, R. (2005). Darimont, C., Fox, C., Bryan, H., and Reimchen, C. (2015). Curious Parallels and Curious Connections — Phylogenetic Thinking in Biology and Historical Linguistics. Systematic Biology. 54:5 (513-526). Retrieved from:
Atkinson, Quentin. (2018). Personal Communication. Department of Evolution and Human Behavior at the University of Auckland.
Bennu, D. (2004). The Evolution of Birds: An Overview of the Avian Tree of Life. Lab Animal. 33 (42-28)). Retrieved from:
De La Fuente, J.(2010). Urban legends: Turkish kayık ‘boat’ and “Eskimo” qayaq ‘kayak’. Studia Linguistica. 127 (7-24). Retrieved from: