Necrolestes is an example of a lazarus taxon, which is when a lineage of organisms stops at some point in the fossil record, to then finding a species of that lineage appearing later in the fossil record, or even still being alive today. Necrolestes also has a long ghost lineage from when it diverged from the other members of its group. Perhaps there are more species of Necrolestids we haven't discovered yet.
Yes, althought, it worth it to remember that in its case, Necrolestes was discovered more than a hundred year before the naming and creation of its order, Meridiolestida. (and most of the few members within it too). So in a way, it is its older relatives that were found to be related to it, and as such being taxon lazarus before Necrolestes itself. That really a fucking crazy story and case here !
Please don't sweat too much about missing them. You're incredibly prolific; and I learn something new all the time. The only time I expect exhaustivity from someone is if they've done their thesis on this very subject (and then again, only in the post-google scholar era). This said, I really appreciate your adding a video on those animals right away!
Necrolestes is probably my favorite mole like creature to have evolved. it's a shame this amazing mammal has been known for more than a hundred years and yet very few people know about it. I can go on and on about why South America before the interchange need more attention in paleo media, but I sure hope we get more.
The discovery of the Meridiolestida order is just extremely incredible and crazy, and extremely important ! Since it display that more true mammals lineages have survived the KT-extinction at 66-65 mya and survived long into the Cenozoïc ! In total, so far we had once in the same time both the Eutherian (placentals), the Metatherian (marsupials), the Monotreme (Platypus and Echidnas), the roden-like Multituberculates and now these small generic critter called Meridiolestida. That represent a total of 5 separate apart groups of mammals during the Cenozoïc ! Incredible ! Just incredible !
@@carlosalbuquerque22 Yeah, but so far, the Gondwanatheres classification is undertermined, with however strong evidence supporting them as Multituberculates. So, if they are both members of this clade, there would be any additionnal clades of mammals surviving into the Cenozoïc. But I admit it, it would be great that they are both their own apart clade. Making a total of 6 groups !
@@dudotolivier6363 Peligrotherium's classification is not really up to debate, it's been consistently recovered as a mesungulatid (a type of meridiolestidan, some even reaching large sizes in the Cretaceous!). And gondwanatheres, even when considered close to multituberculates, are highly distinct, just as marsupials are from placentals. So yes, seven clades
@@carlosalbuquerque22 I know about Peligrotherium's classification, this is why I edited my previous comment to scrap it mention when asking if it was part of another lineages of mammal. And about Gondwanatheres, it's still officially up for debate as far I know. Even if some of their traits are highly distinct from the one of Multituberculates, that don't prove definitively that they are a apart group. Because nature have often show us great twists with animals groups that are extremely distinct physicaly yet part of a same order. For example, It's what we have with Perissodactyls with Horses, Rhinos and Tapirs, or Afrotherian with Elephants, Hyraxes, Manetee, Golden moles or Aardwark. All of these barely or not at all look similar towards each others. Multituberculates were a great order with a fucking diversity. Already itself now to host very distincts groups within it So, it's still possible that Gondwanatheres are Multituberculates at the end. But that is a case still to follow... But yes, would be awesome that 7 orders of mammals managed to coexisted during the Cenozoïc.
I think it's great that your oversight in the first video led to you giving these two fascinating creatures a video of their own. If it was a mistake, it was a serendipitous one for us viewers! 😊👍
@@dboot8886 Agree, the way animals on earth change over millions of years. Assume this same abductivity continues today. Wonder what will be the next species to completely change lineage.
@@dboot8886Wait, if all apes are old world monkeys, then we are monkeys aswell? I assume that it's not racist to call ppl regardless of their racial or ethnic background monkeys anymore
Not long before these videos came out I was wondering if moles were rodents and was surprised to find out they were on the opposite side of the mammal group that contains all placental mammals except Xenarthrans and Afrotheres.
All I can really say is thank you! As a person with just a hobby-interest in the sciences but actually employed in the culinary field I am sort of in the "can't ask any good questions" area but I absolutely love absorbing everything I can and I just appreciate how cutting edge and interesting your channel is on a level which is difficult to encapsulate in TH-cam commentary, but here's a TH-cam comment anyway
I don’t think you should feel too bad about leaving out a couple of cases especially extinct ones, but I appreciate your thoroughness. I have absolutely zero interest in studying biology and animal anatomy but I do love learning about all types of creatures I never knew about! Your content is very interesting, and I can tell you’re very knowledgeable in your field. I just found your channel and subbed! Keep up the good work!
Brilliant, thank you Ben. Love the information, and your presentation. Love listening to your voice teaching us about things we didn't know we didn't know.
Imagine overlooking these mole wannabes, I love your channel and all the work you put into it. I have never found another site that makes me want to learn more about palaeontology than this one. I even did an online Diploma in Anthropology because of you!
Don't worry about it Ben. You are an exemplar of how science works. With more info and peer review we all grow better informed and reach closer to the Apex of knowledge.
you look so much more relaxed and less stressed in this one... great video man. i literally love your videos. your such an amazing and insightful human being. please keep up the good work. thank you
You’re funny as hell Ben. Great video as always, but I was dying at your humor which was self deprecating yet also throwing shade at the people bashing you for missing various mole-like animals.
hmmm. Nah I doubt it. I mean there are definitely more examples of convergent evolution in mammals, and the crab body plan is way less specific than the mole body plan, so it's not really an accurate comparison
Speaking for just myself, I wouldn't mind a two parter planned for each convergent evolution concept. One with some major and all minor ones you're sure about, holding a major one or two back along with ones that might need more research as well as leaving open the possibility of ones you weren't aware of.
definitely make a higher tier and include perks accordingly. people WILL pay to provide greater support to the channel as it's a one-of-a-kind content service you provide. Long time follower and huge fan!
I mean, there are far worse cases than this. He said it went extinct like 17 million years ago, which is like 14 million years before any hominins even evolved.
I absolutely refuse to believe that not a single dinosaur has evolved burrowing lifestyle. I expect (and demand) another apology video just like this one, as soon as one will be discovered!
We also have the Mylodontoidea ground-sloths that suffered a talpalization process somewhat. They are the most probable creators of the _Megaichnos major_ paleoburrows in South America. We also find in them, the burrowing adaptations like massive ossicles, a strong spine, anterior members and claws.
Lots of mammals (platypii, wombats, tasmanian devils, rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, ground squirrels, rabbits, badgers, foxes, bears, otters, meerkats, aardvarks, hedgehogs among many others) are fossorial to some degree, in fact one could argue it is very likely the ancestral condition in mammals, with many Cynodonts also showing some burrowing adaptations. Fully fossorial animals however are MUCH more specialized and are quite invariably small, ground sloths were competent diggers, but they weren't adapted for subterranean life as moles and their "mimics" are.
Moles are lovely creatures and I love this video on how some creature are moles whole also no being moles So interesting yet complex, I hope you all had a great day
'Necrolestes' such a cool name for a metal band. The moles evolved in holes lol. Gives me anxiety imagining being underground struggling to breathe.. what an existence 😖
Moth Light Media has a few videos on the evolution of various subjects, and they even have a video on Convergent evolution; I think you might enjoy using the channel as a resource, even if it's just a means to find sources for a subject.
We probably got a much more indepth look at these two species because of the oversight, so it's a win for everybody. Now the song "The Mole From The Ministry" by The Dukes of Stratosphear is in my head. Also a bonus.
You can do a Evolution series video on "Everytime something turned into Elephants" ! That have it potential ! True Elephants are already a diverse groups including many others families than the Modern Elephants family, Elephantidae. All true elephants are part of Elephantimorpha, but every members of evert groups outside the Elephantid family are called "Archaic Elephants", in order to not mistake them with the only extant surviving members. As such, until very recently there was as Elephants the Stegodontid, Mammutidae (Mastodonts), Gomphoteres, Amebelodontid, or even Anancidae. But several others clades of related or unrelatted animals have evolved into a Elephants-like body or developped Elephants-like traits. Such Tapirs, the extinct Astrapotheres from Meridiungulata, or the Deinotheriidae with Deinotherium (which yes, despite being a Proboscidean as true elephants, in reality wasn't one, due to not be member of Elephantimorpha but Plesielephantiforme, a apart branche of the Proboscidean). So yes, less clades of aparts animals that have undergo convergent evolution, bit still worth it to show and present in a video.
You're teaching people about wonderful rarely encountered animals and fascinating words that will never be used in 99.999% of all conversations. So see it as an opportunity to make another video rather than an apology.
I think you are sure right there, a structure like the star nose moles star nose should not be assumed from a fossil without it. It probably has some kind of structure doing similar work but it might be whiskers or soft lips or something like that.
Could you do a video on the convergent evolution of legless lizards? I also consider snakes as legless lizards, because you cannot remove them from the lizard order (Squamata), without making the term lizard paraphyletic. I think you should start with the snakes, because they are also the most famous.
I read in a herpetology text that leglessness had evolved 54 times in Squamata, 45 times among the skinks. So maybe lizards are all converging on snakes! Many of these legless lizards are sand swimmers, which is a kind of mole-like lifestyle...
@@keithfaulkner6319 cladistics isn't stupid, here's why. The way we used to think how organism are related is through morphology. Morphological classification suffers because it cannot tell the difference between if a trait is ancestral or convergent, this ends up with groups that are either paraphyletic or Polyphyletic. Phylogenetic classification is much more reliable than morphological classification, because it is based on genetic relationships. This is why snakes are lizards. The main reason why many lizard lineages have reduced or absent limbs, is because they get in the way when burrowing underground for a fossorial lifestyle. Some legless lizards lineages live above ground though. The blind or thread snakes (which are fossorial) aren't to dissimilar to the worm lizards, of which they are not closely related (convergence again). Just a heads up, worm lizards or amphisbaenians are lizards, despite what many sources say that they are not lizards. Saying snakes are not lizards is like say that you and your cousin are part of the same family, but your brother is not.
@@keithfaulkner6319 There are groups of lizards that are more closely related to snakes than they are to each other. That's the basis of including snakes in Squamata. They just developed leglessness earlier than other extant lizards did. The taxonomic decision to exclude snakes from lizards was made in the 18th century, when a whole lot less was known about both groups and Darwinian evolution was 100 years in the future.
Honestly it would. A lot of people think of trees as like one group, but a "Tree" is basically just any time a plant evolves to be very big/tall and woody. And they have evolved many many times, obviously.
@@GustafUNL Trees don't exist... sorry. Since they evolved so many times, there is no scientific definition for a tree, because there are always exceptions.
It’s really a testament to how successful the Mole body plan is when so many animals converged on it that it’s possible to simply forget some of them 😂 Nature is so Rad!
Could you do one on animals that have converged on "bat", ie, nocturnal or crepuscular flying insectivores? The goatsuckers would qualify, maybe also some pterosaurs I don't know of...
has anyone ever considered how funny moles look i just did now every time i see one its Hilarious edit 0:24 so you could say these mole lineages... went under ground.
Is it possible to do a video on all animals that evolved "saber" like teeth? I expect it to mostly consist of big cats and some deer, but I'd love to see y'alls take on that
The only flying mammals are bats, and the biggest ones may be alive today. The largest flying foxes (Pteropodid fruit bats) may be at about the limit for a flying mammal at about 1.5kg and nearly 2m wingspan. Birds have hollow bones and unidirectional airflow through their lungs which gives them a huge advantage that mammals just can't beat. Gliding, however, is something that has arisen many times in many unrelated mammal groups, as well as among reptiles and amphibians.
@@b.a.erlebacher1139 oh i hoped there would be like bigger bat in the past but tbh flying foxes are like giga cool bats and giga cute almost as those cotton ball bats, thank you very much for information :)
Ok, so I have a bit of an out there question… can a species that has never had a history of conversion evolution to a mole like characteristics eventually evolve to fit that niche? Example, a feline species down the evolutionary line, develop mole like characteristic to b in that niche?
Generally speaking, you can only evolve to fill a niche if the niche is empty. If there are already species in the mole niche, you probably can't survive the long process of converging on that niche in competition with moles that are already doing it much better than you. Note that all the different animals that converged on the mole niche described in the previous video did so in different geographical or ecological areas where the niche was unoccupied. If we succeed in killing off every species that isn't of economic value to us, or capable of exploiting us, then die off ourselves, the 10+ million year recovery from this mass extinction could conceivably result in a feline mole, but I would bet on one descended from a rat or mouse first. They are already part way there in terms of size, shape, diet and lifestyle.
Two more examples is great, even if a bit late. We will jump to our computers to see whatever look-alike animals that may be. Convergent evolution is always worth the wait.
Necrolestes is an example of a lazarus taxon, which is when a lineage of organisms stops at some point in the fossil record, to then finding a species of that lineage appearing later in the fossil record, or even still being alive today. Necrolestes also has a long ghost lineage from when it diverged from the other members of its group. Perhaps there are more species of Necrolestids we haven't discovered yet.
we better find them fast if they do exist since science is creating imminent biological annihilation fast as per googlescholar.
Yes, althought, it worth it to remember that in its case, Necrolestes was discovered more than a hundred year before the naming and creation of its order, Meridiolestida.
(and most of the few members within it too).
So in a way, it is its older relatives that were found to be related to it, and as such being taxon lazarus before Necrolestes itself.
That really a fucking crazy story and case here !
is that basically what celocanths are
@@theperfectbotsteve4916 Yes... a lazarus taxon.
There's a tooth in Eocene Antarctica that might belong to one
Please don't sweat too much about missing them. You're incredibly prolific; and I learn something new all the time. The only time I expect exhaustivity from someone is if they've done their thesis on this very subject (and then again, only in the post-google scholar era). This said, I really appreciate your adding a video on those animals right away!
Necrolestes is probably my favorite mole like creature to have evolved. it's a shame this amazing mammal has been known for more than a hundred years and yet very few people know about it. I can go on and on about why South America before the interchange need more attention in paleo media, but I sure hope we get more.
how many microscopic organisms look like moles when magnified?
Good ol flesh fiend
These videos have only reinforced my love of moles.
if you love moles so much then why don't you marry one? Oh wait - that's why you visit prison regularly...
This is why diglett got an Alolan and convergent form
You beat me to it lmao
@@CoralReaper707 About 4 months too late😅
@@TubularBells14 true
The discovery of the Meridiolestida order is just extremely incredible and crazy, and extremely important !
Since it display that more true mammals lineages have survived the KT-extinction at 66-65 mya and survived long into the Cenozoïc !
In total, so far we had once in the same time both the Eutherian (placentals), the Metatherian (marsupials), the Monotreme (Platypus and Echidnas), the roden-like Multituberculates and now these small generic critter called Meridiolestida.
That represent a total of 5 separate apart groups of mammals during the Cenozoïc !
Incredible ! Just incredible !
There' also the gondwanatheres. And among meridiolestidans there was also the large, herbivorous Peligrotherium
@@carlosalbuquerque22 Yeah, but so far, the Gondwanatheres classification is undertermined, with however strong evidence supporting them as Multituberculates.
So, if they are both members of this clade, there would be any additionnal clades of mammals surviving into the Cenozoïc.
But I admit it, it would be great that they are both their own apart clade.
Making a total of 6 groups !
@@dudotolivier6363 Peligrotherium's classification is not really up to debate, it's been consistently recovered as a mesungulatid (a type of meridiolestidan, some even reaching large sizes in the Cretaceous!). And gondwanatheres, even when considered close to multituberculates, are highly distinct, just as marsupials are from placentals. So yes, seven clades
@@carlosalbuquerque22 I know about Peligrotherium's classification, this is why I edited my previous comment to scrap it mention when asking if it was part of another lineages of mammal.
And about Gondwanatheres, it's still officially up for debate as far I know.
Even if some of their traits are highly distinct from the one of Multituberculates, that don't prove definitively that they are a apart group.
Because nature have often show us great twists with animals groups that are extremely distinct physicaly yet part of a same order.
For example, It's what we have with Perissodactyls with Horses, Rhinos and Tapirs, or Afrotherian with Elephants, Hyraxes, Manetee, Golden moles or Aardwark.
All of these barely or not at all look similar towards each others.
Multituberculates were a great order with a fucking diversity. Already itself now to host very distincts groups within it
So, it's still possible that Gondwanatheres are Multituberculates at the end.
But that is a case still to follow...
But yes, would be awesome that 7 orders of mammals managed to coexisted during the Cenozoïc.
I think it's great that your oversight in the first video led to you giving these two fascinating creatures a video of their own. If it was a mistake, it was a serendipitous one for us viewers! 😊👍
Fun fact: Moles are More closely related to whales than are to rodents
Stop. I'm still adjusting to apes being old world monkeys and birds being reptiles now.😢
@@dboot8886
Agree, the way animals on earth change over millions of years.
Assume this same abductivity continues today.
Wonder what will be the next species to completely change lineage.
@@dboot8886Wait, if all apes are old world monkeys, then we are monkeys aswell? I assume that it's not racist to call ppl regardless of their racial or ethnic background monkeys anymore
@@dboot8886You new around here?
Not long before these videos came out I was wondering if moles were rodents and was surprised to find out they were on the opposite side of the mammal group that contains all placental mammals except Xenarthrans and Afrotheres.
All I can really say is thank you! As a person with just a hobby-interest in the sciences but actually employed in the culinary field I am sort of in the "can't ask any good questions" area but I absolutely love absorbing everything I can and I just appreciate how cutting edge and interesting your channel is on a level which is difficult to encapsulate in TH-cam commentary, but here's a TH-cam comment anyway
Cant wait for a mole dinosaur to be discovered. Hunt for the MOLEASAURUS
Crab: "Finally a worthy opponent, our battle will be legendary!"
I don’t think you should feel too bad about leaving out a couple of cases especially extinct ones, but I appreciate your thoroughness. I have absolutely zero interest in studying biology and animal anatomy but I do love learning about all types of creatures I never knew about! Your content is very interesting, and I can tell you’re very knowledgeable in your field. I just found your channel and subbed! Keep up the good work!
Brilliant, thank you Ben. Love the information, and your presentation. Love listening to your voice teaching us about things we didn't know we didn't know.
"This is (also) not a ___" is a great type of vid that expands what the original did, while keeping the original shorter. It's not dumb at all.
can't wait for the several hour crab convergent evolution video.
Good job Ben can't wait to see what's next hope it's something like Every time something evolved into a lizard
Imagine overlooking these mole wannabes, I love your channel and all the work you put into it. I have never found another site that makes me want to learn more about palaeontology than this one. I even did an online Diploma in Anthropology because of you!
*Evolution:*
how many times do you want to evolve?
*Mole:* Yes
Don't worry about it Ben. You are an exemplar of how science works. With more info and peer review we all grow better informed and reach closer to the Apex of knowledge.
you look so much more relaxed and less stressed in this one... great video man. i literally love your videos. your such an amazing and insightful human being. please keep up the good work. thank you
A huge win for the mole community
You’re funny as hell Ben.
Great video as always, but I was dying at your humor which was self deprecating yet also throwing shade at the people bashing you for missing various mole-like animals.
Is this like, the mammalian equivalent of things evolving into crabs
Every mammal wants to be a mole. Every arthropod wants to be a crab.
hmmm. Nah I doubt it. I mean there are definitely more examples of convergent evolution in mammals, and the crab body plan is way less specific than the mole body plan, so it's not really an accurate comparison
@@GustafUNL "uhm ackshually..." 🤡🤓
A lot of lineages have also evolved into cats and squirrels.
@@sambeaumont4337 also mongoose like. small long skinny carnivores
They're not only fascinating animals but so very adorable!
Speaking for just myself, I wouldn't mind a two parter planned for each convergent evolution concept. One with some major and all minor ones you're sure about, holding a major one or two back along with ones that might need more research as well as leaving open the possibility of ones you weren't aware of.
I would make a joke about moles turning into crabs
But if you saw the last episode you know its more likely for a crab to turn into a mole!
and yet still not very likely.
@@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885and yet there is a molelike crablike creature
@@gusty7153 not for long! Science is destroying life on Earth very fast - just googlescholar "biological annihilation"
Mole crabs already are a thing
I like that you left them out the first time because now it feels like I'm getting surprise extra bonus content on the subject 😄
definitely make a higher tier and include perks accordingly. people WILL pay to provide greater support to the channel as it's a one-of-a-kind content service you provide. Long time follower and huge fan!
Just listened Ben- and very glad you missed them first time round because this was great
its always nice to have some mole knowledge
Moledge
Thank God you missed them so you could make another cause I'm totally hooked ❤❤❤❤❤
Always sort of sad to heard about last survivors of lineages that lasted until reasonably recently, but didn’t make it to today.
I mean, there are far worse cases than this. He said it went extinct like 17 million years ago, which is like 14 million years before any hominins even evolved.
Anthropocene...
today is sadly repeatedly claimed to be "making history" as our arrogance accelerates into the eco-apocalypse.
They're around, you just can't find them bc they're underground
It was almost the fate of the Tuatara.
I absolutely refuse to believe that not a single dinosaur has evolved burrowing lifestyle. I expect (and demand) another apology video just like this one, as soon as one will be discovered!
I could be wrong, but last I checked some Orodromines had evidence for burrowing
Not mole like, but still
The Moleverse continues to expand
Nature is funny
You’re the best best.❤ taking the science of discovery and making it so very pleasantly enjoyable while learning.
By making a multimediamoment out of a mole hill.
You have dug quite a hole for yourself.
Love the channel man.👍
Your channel is fascinating! I have seen a lot of old animal prints that label the Platypus a "Duck Billed Mole", a "Water Mole" or a "Duck Mole".
loving the convergent evolutions videos
Love these convergent evolution video, love to see what evolved the Triassic
So basically the mammalian equivalent of evolve to crab is evolve to mole?
We also have the Mylodontoidea ground-sloths that suffered a talpalization process somewhat. They are the most probable creators of the _Megaichnos major_ paleoburrows in South America. We also find in them, the burrowing adaptations like massive ossicles, a strong spine, anterior members and claws.
Lots of mammals (platypii, wombats, tasmanian devils, rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, ground squirrels, rabbits, badgers, foxes, bears, otters, meerkats, aardvarks, hedgehogs among many others) are fossorial to some degree, in fact one could argue it is very likely the ancestral condition in mammals, with many Cynodonts also showing some burrowing adaptations.
Fully fossorial animals however are MUCH more specialized and are quite invariably small, ground sloths were competent diggers, but they weren't adapted for subterranean life as moles and their "mimics" are.
I'M SO GLAD that you did a second video! Stop apologizing--your professional cred is not at stake!
The apology was meant as a joke I'm fairly sure lol
I wasn’t ready for this
Moles are lovely creatures and I love this video on how some creature are moles whole also no being moles
So interesting yet complex, I hope you all had a great day
Best TH-cam apology I've ever seen.
Very fascinating animals! Thank you!
'Necrolestes' such a cool name for a metal band.
The moles evolved in holes lol.
Gives me anxiety imagining being underground struggling to breathe.. what an existence 😖
Convergent evolution is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
wow ben g thomas i cant belive you let down the mole community like that😔
This was somehow even more exciting than the last video
Moth Light Media has a few videos on the evolution of various subjects, and they even have a video on Convergent evolution; I think you might enjoy using the channel as a resource, even if it's just a means to find sources for a subject.
Eventually, everything will either be a mole or a crab.
Well done. Always learn a ton. 😊
We probably got a much more indepth look at these two species because of the oversight, so it's a win for everybody. Now the song "The Mole From The Ministry" by The Dukes of Stratosphear is in my head. Also a bonus.
The video is so nice as always🎉❤
Now do subterranean reptiles and amphibians. Lets make the Mole Empire.
I can't wait until something evolves into a mole-crab. That will be the peak of evolutionary progression.
This series is great.
Don’t beat yourself up! Things happen! You’re awesome Ben!
Did you hear about a 500 000 year old man made wooden structure being discovered?
We have been on this rock creating things for a long time. There is no such thing as a modern age.
You can do a Evolution series video on "Everytime something turned into Elephants" ! That have it potential !
True Elephants are already a diverse groups including many others families than the Modern Elephants family, Elephantidae.
All true elephants are part of Elephantimorpha, but every members of evert groups outside the Elephantid family are called "Archaic Elephants", in order to not mistake them with the only extant surviving members.
As such, until very recently there was as Elephants the Stegodontid, Mammutidae (Mastodonts), Gomphoteres, Amebelodontid, or even Anancidae.
But several others clades of related or unrelatted animals have evolved into a Elephants-like body or developped Elephants-like traits.
Such Tapirs, the extinct Astrapotheres from Meridiungulata, or the Deinotheriidae with Deinotherium (which yes, despite being a Proboscidean as true elephants, in reality wasn't one, due to not be member of Elephantimorpha but Plesielephantiforme, a apart branche of the Proboscidean).
So yes, less clades of aparts animals that have undergo convergent evolution, bit still worth it to show and present in a video.
Imagine if this got a followup with “Future Animals that have evolved into moles”.
i made a mole like evolution for the wallace project (i'll be honest it was more graboid, but it had mole claws)
Hey i love your channel keep it up
The great dig for the OG mole
You're teaching people about wonderful rarely encountered animals and fascinating words that will never be used in 99.999% of all conversations. So see it as an opportunity to make another video rather than an apology.
* *Slaps roof of the car* *
"This bad boy is not a mole"
what about non-mammalians? are there no mole-like reptiles/amphibians?
I think you are sure right there, a structure like the star nose moles star nose should not be assumed from a fossil without it. It probably has some kind of structure doing similar work but it might be whiskers or soft lips or something like that.
Could you do a video on the convergent evolution of legless lizards? I also consider snakes as legless lizards, because you cannot remove them from the lizard order (Squamata), without making the term lizard paraphyletic. I think you should start with the snakes, because they are also the most famous.
I read in a herpetology text that leglessness had evolved 54 times in Squamata, 45 times among the skinks. So maybe lizards are all converging on snakes! Many of these legless lizards are sand swimmers, which is a kind of mole-like lifestyle...
And this is why cladistics is stupid.
Snakes are not lizards.
They're snakes.
@@keithfaulkner6319 cladistics isn't stupid, here's why. The way we used to think how organism are related is through morphology. Morphological classification suffers because it cannot tell the difference between if a trait is ancestral or convergent, this ends up with groups that are either paraphyletic or Polyphyletic. Phylogenetic classification is much more reliable than morphological classification, because it is based on genetic relationships. This is why snakes are lizards. The main reason why many lizard lineages have reduced or absent limbs, is because they get in the way when burrowing underground for a fossorial lifestyle. Some legless lizards lineages live above ground though. The blind or thread snakes (which are fossorial) aren't to dissimilar to the worm lizards, of which they are not closely related (convergence again). Just a heads up, worm lizards or amphisbaenians are lizards, despite what many sources say that they are not lizards.
Saying snakes are not lizards is like say that you and your cousin are part of the same family, but your brother is not.
@@keithfaulkner6319 There are groups of lizards that are more closely related to snakes than they are to each other. That's the basis of including snakes in Squamata. They just developed leglessness earlier than other extant lizards did. The taxonomic decision to exclude snakes from lizards was made in the 18th century, when a whole lot less was known about both groups and Darwinian evolution was 100 years in the future.
Next video I can easily see being on sabertoothed therapsids or dog-like mammals.
An hour wasn't enough mole-like convergent evolution. I'm glad you understand. We forgive you.
Looking forward to the third video on this subject.
Amazing Video :)
A saber-toothed mole sounds like a character from Ice Age.
Fossil-o-gists having vigorous arguments over a few fragments of bones...very prehistoric.
It would be interesting to see the comvergent evolution of trees!
Honestly it would. A lot of people think of trees as like one group, but a "Tree" is basically just any time a plant evolves to be very big/tall and woody. And they have evolved many many times, obviously.
@@GustafUNL Trees don't exist... sorry. Since they evolved so many times, there is no scientific definition for a tree, because there are always exceptions.
Is it possible for a crab to evolve into a mole? That would be Wild
It’s really a testament to how successful the Mole body plan is when so many animals converged on it that it’s possible to simply forget some of them 😂
Nature is so Rad!
Hey Ben, how many times has something evolved into a crocodile?
I find it fascinating how all these "mole like" animals are mammals... but I guess it makes some sense.
Could you do one on animals that have converged on "bat", ie, nocturnal or crepuscular flying insectivores? The goatsuckers would qualify, maybe also some pterosaurs I don't know of...
has anyone ever considered how funny moles look i just did now every time i see one its Hilarious
edit 0:24 so you could say these mole lineages...
went under ground.
theory: the crab is the perfect shape of the crustacean right? so maybe the mole is the perfect shape of the mammals.
1:04 why would you say “let’s take a look at necrolestes” and then show a middle-aged man 😭
Is it possible to do a video on all animals that evolved "saber" like teeth? I expect it to mostly consist of big cats and some deer, but I'd love to see y'alls take on that
Is this an unofficial mole week?
I've watched both videos and you still missed one maybe? A case COULD be made that burrowing frogs are molesque in body plan.
ideas for videos, what was the biggest mole. what was the biggest flying mammal. i would love to find out what was the biggest mammal
The only flying mammals are bats, and the biggest ones may be alive today. The largest flying foxes (Pteropodid fruit bats) may be at about the limit for a flying mammal at about 1.5kg and nearly 2m wingspan. Birds have hollow bones and unidirectional airflow through their lungs which gives them a huge advantage that mammals just can't beat. Gliding, however, is something that has arisen many times in many unrelated mammal groups, as well as among reptiles and amphibians.
@@b.a.erlebacher1139 oh i hoped there would be like bigger bat in the past but tbh flying foxes are like giga cool bats and giga cute almost as those cotton ball bats, thank you very much for information :)
The biggest mammal known was _Paraceratherium_
Looking for when moles evolve to crabs, and crabs evolve to moles
They should make a new term for the form of convergent evolution that involves mammaliformes evolving into Moles.
Talpidization?
Ok, so I have a bit of an out there question… can a species that has never had a history of conversion evolution to a mole like characteristics eventually evolve to fit that niche? Example, a feline species down the evolutionary line, develop mole like characteristic to b in that niche?
Generally speaking, you can only evolve to fill a niche if the niche is empty. If there are already species in the mole niche, you probably can't survive the long process of converging on that niche in competition with moles that are already doing it much better than you. Note that all the different animals that converged on the mole niche described in the previous video did so in different geographical or ecological areas where the niche was unoccupied.
If we succeed in killing off every species that isn't of economic value to us, or capable of exploiting us, then die off ourselves, the 10+ million year recovery from this mass extinction could conceivably result in a feline mole, but I would bet on one descended from a rat or mouse first. They are already part way there in terms of size, shape, diet and lifestyle.
From the makers of "Everything keeps evolving into Crabs"...
The algorithm just recommended back to back mole videos..
*this better not awaken anything inside of me...*
Necrolestes sounds like a supervillain
Oh no! There's mole of them
Two more examples is great,
even if a bit late.
We will jump to our computers to see
whatever look-alike animals that may be.
Convergent evolution is always worth the wait.
Is that a Haiku?
@@Ragnarok540 . It is a limerick. That's the one form of rhyme that comes naturally.
No need to apologize. There are so many animals, both living and dead, no one can know everything
Ben, Ben, Ben - please don't denigrate yourself so. You are brilliant, and there is certainly no need for apologies.