1. Polar Bears evolved from Brown Bears.
Polar bears are the youngest members of the Ursidae family. They descended from a small group of brown bears about 200,000 years ago. Sometimes known as the Sea Bear, Polar Bears swim better than any other group, have well-adapted fur, and a sense of smell that can sense a seal through 4 feet of ice.
2. From Wolf to Dog
About 14,000 years ago, a group of wolves lived near a population of humans. The wolves with less fear probably got more food from the humans (leftovers or straight from the humans). Since the wolf pups possess many quality we consider cute, it probably didn't take long for tameness to evolve into the domesticated dogs we have today. By the way, I have already set my DVR for NatGeo's special on the Evolution of Dogs tonight!
Actually all modern birds (including Chickens) descended from a group of dinosaurs called therapods (including the T. Rex). During therapod evolution, we see the development of most bird traits (light bones, special hip joints, nesting patterns, and feathers). After the split from therapods, birds developed a few more traits like beaks, losing claws on their wings, etc. We can learn a lot about dinosaurs from birds and a lot about birds from dinosaurs.
Zebras are descended from another equine species called the Quagga. The Quagga looks like a Zebra in the front half and a horse on the back half. Sadly, the Quagga has gone extinct.
5. Early Kangaroos looked like dogs
The ancestors of Kangaroos featured many dog-like features and ran around on all fours. They climbed trees and ate fruits and fungi. As the Australian environment changed, the species of future-Kangaroos adapted to a grassland and gained their famous hopping ability.
6. Sponges and Humans share a common ancestor
Actually, humans share common ancestors with all other organisms. The sponge happens to be the most ancient and most similar to the common ancestor of all animals. When animals broke away from all other living things, one group went on to become sponges and the other group went on to become the other animals. We have similar stories of descent with Chickens, Kangaroos, Wolves, Cows, Zebras and every other species of animal.
7. Cows evolved from Whales
I had not seen this before. Whales descended from land-dwelling ancestors. Successive generations became more dependent and more adapted to life in the water. This suggests the cows and whales shared a common ancestor called Pakicetus. Cows and whales are certainly cousins (all mammals/animals/living things are cousins), but they might be closer that we previously thought.)
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