Study
The genetic causes of convergent evolution
Stern, David L.
Nature Reviews Genetics, 2013
Reviews documented cases in which similar traits evolved repeatedly, and examines how often the same genes, and the same changes within them, are involved.
- Studied in
- Animalia, Plantae
- Sample size
- review of documented cases of repeated evolution and their genetic basis
The same genes are implicated in independent origins of similar traits far more often than chance would suggest. Contributing factors include the limited number of genes whose alteration produces the trait without unacceptable side effects, and the availability of standing variation.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Repeated evolution is frequently channelled through a restricted set of genetic routes, because most alternatives are either ineffective or too costly elsewhere in the organism.
How NatureHQ reads it
The record that turns a collection of anecdotes into a general claim. Convergence is not only about bodies looking alike; the same molecules are reused, and the reason is that a gene which can be altered to produce the trait without wrecking something else is a narrow target.
- Review coverage reflects where genetic work has been done, which favours model organisms and well-studied traits.
- How far the pattern extends to complex traits with many contributing genes is less clear.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Convergent evolution
Image-forming eyes, powered flight, echolocation and venom have each arisen many separate times. Repetition on that scale is evidence that the space of workable solutions is narrow — not that nature is short of ideas.
Convergent evolution
Unrelated insects feeding on milkweeds repeatedly acquired the same substitutions in the same protein — the pump the plant’s toxin attacks. They did not inherit the solution; there is barely another one.
Convergent evolution
When a trait evolves repeatedly, the same genes turn up far more often than chance would allow. The target is narrow: few genes can be altered to produce the trait without breaking something else.
Published by: Nature PortfolioPublished in a Nature Portfolio journal.
Checked against Crossref on 2026-09-28, and they agree on the title, the authors and the year.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-09-03.