How objectively would you discern a fossil animal from being a ancestral lineage or just a case of convergent evolution
afterall without dna sequencing, you can only go based off the evident anatomy of the animals in question which aint exactly reliable cause of convergent evolution
like a worm and snake, both have eyes and a serpentine body meaning like no legs right
but those traits were clearly developed separately as snakes are clearly unrelated to worms guess you include eels in there too if you want btw but general point still stands
afterall without dna sequencing, you can only go based off the evident anatomy of the animals in question which aint exactly reliable cause of convergent evolution
like a worm and snake, both have eyes and a serpentine body meaning like no legs right
but those traits were clearly developed separately as snakes are clearly unrelated to worms guess you include eels in there too if you want btw but general point still stands
