2018-06-27

[public] 415K views, 13.9K likes, dislikes audio only

MinuteEarth

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.

LEARN MORE

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To learn more about this topic, 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.

If you liked this week’s video, you might also like:

A photographer who has taken amazing photos of unrelated people who look alike: http://mentalfloss.com/article/53774/photos-unrelated-people-who-look-exactly-alike

CREDITS

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Script Writer: David Goldenberg

Script Editor: Emily Elert

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

MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC

https://neptunestudios.info

IMAGE CREDITS

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Lappet-faced Vulture (Old World) - Steve Garvie

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Torgos_tracheliotos_-Masai_Mara_National_Reserve,_Kenya-8.jpg

Turkey vulture (New World) - Flickr User minicooper93402

https://www.flickr.com/photos/minicooper93402/5440526260

Crested Porcupine (Old World) - Flickr user 57777529@N02

https://www.flickr.com/photos/57777529@N02/5398915634

North American Porcupine (New World) - iStock.com/GlobalP

https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/north-american-porcupine-or-canadian-porcupine-or-common-porcupine-walking-gm515605852-88578399

Chinchilla lanigera - Nicolas Guérin

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinchilla_lanigera_(Wroclaw_zoo)-2.JPG

Naked Mole Rat - Roman Klementschitz

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nacktmull.jpg

Ganges river dolphin - Zahangir Alom, NOAA (Public Domain)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Platanista_gangetica_noaa.jpg

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin - Flickr user 53344659@N05

https://www.flickr.com/photos/53344659@N05/4978423771/

Orcinus orcas - Robert Pittman, NOAA (Public Domain)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Killerwhales_jumping.jpg

Euphorbia obesa - Frank Vincentz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:E_obesa_symmetrica_ies.jpg

Astrophytum asterias - David Midgley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Astrophytum_asterias1.jpg

Sweet William Dwarf - Nicholas M. Bashour

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spring_Flowers.JPG

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REFERENCES

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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: https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article/54/4/513/2842862

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: https://www.nature.com/articles/laban0504-42

De La Fuente, J.(2010). Urban legends: Turkish kayık ‘boat’ and “Eskimo” qayaq ‘kayak’. Studia Linguistica. 127 (7-24). Retrieved from: http://www.ejournals.eu/Studia-Linguistica/2010/2010/art/180/