Thylacosmilus is a marsupial, and Smilodon is a mammal. Thylacosmilus and Smilodon both have saber teeth, but they do not share an ancestor that had saber teeth. What are saber teeth for these organisms?

Question

anonymous · Answer

This is an example of convergent evolution.  That is to say, these two organisms do not share a common ancestor with this trait, but they both have a history that has selected for the same trait to evolve independently (they converged on it).

I've taken this image from wikipedia.  Tell me which you think matches what you have described.