This diagram demonstrates the convergent evolution of several ant-eating mammals to all develop long tongues, sharp claws and protective armour, despite having evolved completely separately from one another. Read the full article to see how and why this happened.

Fun facts:

1. Pangolins share their most common ancestor with the Carnivora (dogs, cats and Hyenas) and Euungulata (horses, giraffes and rhinos)
2. Humans (primates) are more closely related to pangolins than any of the other ant-eating mammal species that you may typically confuse a pangolin with (anteaters, armadillos, aardvarks, numbats, echidnas)
3. Ant-eaters are not the only mammals that look surprisingly similar but are remarkably unrelated. Look at the diagram below to see if you can spot other examples of convergent evolution. For example:
   Elephants and Rhino.
   Porcupines, Hedgehogs and Echidnas.
   Rodents (rats and mice), Dassies and Shrews and Bats (which in Afrikaans is called a 'vlermuise' - translated to winged mouse).