Use the promo code "minuteearth" at https://curiositystream.com/minuteearth for 26% off an annual subscription to CuriosityStream, plus access to Nebula! There’s lots of debate as to which original starter Pokémon is the best fighter among squirtle, bulbasaur, charmander, and pikachu, but only one is the most biologically plausible. LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Convergent evolution: the process whereby organisms not closely related (not monophyletic), independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches. If you liked this week’s video, you might also like: Satirical scientific article about pikachu: https://www.scq.ubc.ca/upregulated-membrane-expression-of-a-conserved-voltage-gated-sodium-channel-nav1-4a-and-electrical-organ-discharge-in-electric-mouse-p-pikachu/ SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* Julián Gustavo Gómez (@thejuliangomez) | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Arcadi Garcia Rius | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info/ OUR STAFF ************ Sarah Berman • Arcadi Garcia Rius David Goldenberg • Julián Gustavo Gómez Melissa Hayes • Alex Reich • Henry Reich Peter Reich • Ever Salazar • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Youtube | null TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com/ Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Bels, V. L., J. Davenport, and S. Renous. "Drinking and water expulsion in the diamondback turtle Malaclemys terrapin." Journal of Zoology 236.3 (1995): 483-497. Gallant, Jason R., et al. "Genomic basis for the convergent evolution of electric organs." Science 344.6191 (2014): 1522-1525. Hultgren, K. M., et al. "Camouflage in decorator crabs: integrating ecological, behavioural and evolutionary approaches." Animal camouflage (2011): 214-229. Lewis, Danny. “This Is How Bombardier Beetles Fire Explosives From Their Butts.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 5 May 2015, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/machine-gun-bug-180955150. Quirós, Gabriela. “Decorator Crabs Make High Fashion at Low Tide.” KQED, 9 May 2017, www.kqed.org/science/1602625/decorator-crabs-make-high-fashion-at-low-tide. Wanninger, Marion, Thomas Schwaha, and Egon Heiss. "Form and Function of the skin glands in the Himalayan newt Tylototriton verrucosus." Zoological Letters 4.1 (2018): 15.