8 Animals With Surprisingly Common Ancestry  (2 of 5)

2. Humans and Kangaroos

At first glance, humans and kangaroos might seem like polar opposites—one a bipedal primate for whom achieving TikTok stardom is the pinnacle of success—and the other a marsupial hopping across the Australian Outback. However, beneath their superficial differences lies a remarkable evolutionary kinship. Both humans and kangaroos belong to the infraclass Theria, a group of mammals characterized by live birth and the presence of nipples for nursing their young. Interestingly, the kangaroo genome shares a surprising number of similarities with the human genome, indicating a closer genetic relationship than previously thought.

3. Elephants and Manatees

While elephants and manatees (or sea cows, as we like to call these lazy, sea-dwelling beasts) are certainly never going to be confused for one another, they share a surprising evolutionary connection. Both belong to the order Sirenia, a group of large herbivorous mammals that originated from land-dwelling ancestors. Over time, one branch of Sirenia adapted to a terrestrial lifestyle, giving rise to elephants, while the other embraced the aquatic realm, resulting in manatees. Despite their divergent paths, elephants and manatees retain shared characteristics, such as their herbivorous diets, thick gray skin with bristle-like hairs, and vestigial pelvic bones.