Which term describes independent species acquiring similar characteristics while evolving in the same ecospace?

• A. Parallel Evolution
• B. Adaptive Radiation
• C. Endosymbiosis
• D. Keystone Species

Answer: (A)

Parallel evolution describes independent lineages evolving similar traits because they face comparable environmental pressures in the same ecospace. When related species encounter the same ecological challenges, natural selection pushes them toward similar solutions, so they develop comparable adaptations even though their lineages have diverged. This isn’t about one species changing into many (that would be adaptive radiation), nor is it about one organism living inside another (endosymbiosis), nor about a species driving ecosystem structure through influence (keystone species). Seeing similar beak shapes, limb adaptations, or other features in related species occupying the same environment is a classic sign of parallel evolution.