Based in Brazil, Fernanda Ferreira is a science writer who covers a range of STEM (and occasionally non-STEM) topics, from textile conservation to vaccine stockpiles.
If asked what animal is genetically closest to a hippo, you might point at any number of four legged, land-roving mammals with hooves, such as a pig or a very fat cow, because we have a natural tendency to think that animals that look similar will also be genetically related. In this case, however, the right answer is whales… obviously. An animal’s morphology can hide a great deal about its phylogenetic history but a recent concerted effort to map all of the earth’s living organisms on a single phylogenetic tree may help make such surprising relationships more obvious.
