Dolphins can't fly, and bat don't swim. But, scientists say, they both rely on the same genetic and molecular changes for their ability to use a natural sonar to find their prey. More remarkably, through evolution, these unrelated groups of animals independently acquired their similar talent at echolocation.
"That was shocking," said University of Michigan scientist Jianzhi (George) Zhang, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and co-author of the paper in Current Biology about the phenomenon.
The CBC reports that researchers in China, the United States and the United Kingdom focused on the DNA code for the protein prestin, which occurs in a number of species -- including 10 species of echolocating bats and the bottlenose dolphin.
The dolphin, at the DNA level, clustered more closely with the bats than with its rightful evolutionary cousins.
In the future, the scientists hope to sequence the DNA code for prestin and learn what changes at the amino acid level are critical for the development of echolocation.
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