The Similarity Trap

Опубликовано 27 июня 2018, 12:35

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
**************
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: mentalfloss.com/article/53774/...

CREDITS
*********
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
neptunestudios.info

IMAGE CREDITS
*****************

Lappet-faced Vulture (Old World) - Steve Garvie
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...

Turkey vulture (New World) - Flickr User minicooper93402
flickr.com/photos/minicooper93...

Crested Porcupine (Old World) - Flickr user 57777529@N02
flickr.com/photos/57777529@N02...

North American Porcupine (New World) - iStock.com/GlobalP
istockphoto.com/photo/north-am...

Chinchilla lanigera - Nicolas Guérin
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...

Naked Mole Rat - Roman Klementschitz
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...

Ganges river dolphin - Zahangir Alom, NOAA (Public Domain)
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin - Flickr user 53344659@N05
flickr.com/photos/53344659@N05...

Orcinus orcas - Robert Pittman, NOAA (Public Domain)
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...

Euphorbia obesa - Frank Vincentz
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:E_o...

Astrophytum asterias - David Midgley
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ast...

Sweet William Dwarf - Nicholas M. Bashour
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spr...

SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH
**************************
If you like what we do, you can help us!:
- Become our patron: patreon.com/MinuteEarth
- Our merch: dftba.com/minuteearth
- Our book: minuteearth.com/books
- Share this video with your friends and family
- Leave us a comment (we read them!)

OUR LINKS
************
Youtube | youtube.com/MinuteEarth
TikTok | tiktok.com/@minuteearth
Twitter | twitter.com/MinuteEarth
Instagram | instagram.com/minute_earth
Facebook | facebook.com/Minuteearth
Website | minuteearth.com
Apple Podcasts| podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/...

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: academic.oup.com/sysbio/articl...

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: nature.com/articles/laban0504-...

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