Mathematical convergence is the overlap of numbers in two distinct sequences: two different machines briefly humming to the same rhythm.
Biologists have recreated the beginnings of evolution under controlled conditions. Of course, the biologists weren't the first. Look into the empty eyes of a Pomeranian sometime — that's evolution sublimated by the sensibilities of dog-breeders. Finches start evolving in different directions a few generations after populations are separated.
Convergent evolution happens when the mathematical principle surfaces in the sequence of genesis. Two different animals evolve the same way in different parts of the world. Two beautiful machines etc.
Australia's moloch horridus and the US's horned lizard are close cousins. They're both miniaturized, ant-eating dinosaurs. Put two species of lizard in deserts on different sides of the earth and they will expose the mathematics in the propagation of genes. Biologists who first happened upon these spiny beasts noted the similarity in their appearance to the American lizard, and surmised correctly that like its northern cousin it was a devout ant-eater.
The world is more beautiful without a creator.
Moloch Horridus
"Moloch" is derived from a fearful Canaanite god —
more specifically, Milton's illustration of a blood-smeared tyrant.
"Horridus," disappointingly, means "bristly" or "secondarily dreadful."
Also known as thorny devil.
Australia's got the weirdest damned animals.
Despite the convergent evolution, moloch horridus is unique enough to have its own genus.
The world first saw the moloch when John Gould exhibited a preserved specimen in London in 1840. The name moloch followed a year later when John Gray illustrated the beast and rifled through his collection of Milton.
The moloch is distributed through arid inland Australia, with a habitable strip running along the western coast. Here they live in two distinct habitats: the spinifex-sandplain and sandridge deserts inland and the mallee belt to the west. The ususual distribution results from soil rather than climate — molochs like sandy soil; both areas have sandy soil.
These things seem to be all but made of spines. Close-up, they're fierce-looking. At least one film director's been struck with the inspiration to press a camera against a moloch's face for a good monster flick. The eyes are shaded with two large conical spines and the back of the neck is topped with a spiny hunk of flesh serving as a false head. There is literally not a spot on this creature that is without sharp.
Like many lizards, the moloch is a specialist in camouflage. Its mottled brown and tan markings mimic the dust of the Australian desert while the color of its skin changes rapidly to match the environment. The combination of spines and camouflage in both the moloch and horned lizard leads the assumption that they're specialized for eating only ants. Ants are small and full of noxious chemicals; you've got to eat them by the dozens to get a decent meal. No way to do that besides sitting next to an ant trail and slurping them up as they pass. You can't do that looking like anything besides dirt.
The moloch is fearsome-looking for a good reason: it's utterly harmless. Its defenses are all passive — camoflauge, spines. When threatened it puffs up like a balloon and tucks its head between its front legs so that its false head sticks up, making for a difficult swallow. That doesn't make it immune to predation, though. Bustards and Aborigines aren't scared of spines.
The moloch does not move quickly. It shuffles on the dirt like a robot. It occasionally pauses mid-stride, one foot off the ground. It's a medium-sized lizard, reaching about 20cm. Females are larger than males.
The moloch gets much of its water from the air, channeling it to the corners of its mouth via the network of hygroscopic grooves on its skin. A dewy morning is a godsend.
These little beasts are full of parasites. Nearly all individuals have nematode worms and other buggers squirming in their intestinal tracts. Most of these parasites likely use ants as intermediate hosts, finding their settle-down point in the belly of the moloch.
Activity, including mating, is bimodal, slowing nearly to a halt during the coldest and hottest months. The period spanning late Winter to early Summer sees mating and egg deposition. While the moloch spends much of its time in a twenty-foot area equipped with an ant trail, a burrow and a defecation site, mating season prompts it to travel entire kilometers. Males headbutt to gain access to the female. Egg clutch sizes range from three to ten.
Egg incubation ranges from 90 to 130 days. Young male and female molochs are similar in size and stature until sexual maturity, when females become larger and stouter. Sexual maturity comes at age three years. Biologists believe molochs live some 20 years in the wild.
Sources
Rudolph, Hellen K. "Thorny Devil/Moloch Horridus."
http://www.drellenrudolph.com/featureanimals/thornydevil.html
Pianka, Eric R. "Australia's Thorny Devil."
uts.cc.utexas.edu/~varanus/moloch.htm
Blue Planet Biomes
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/thorny_devil.htm
DigiMorph
http://www.digimorph.org/specimens/Moloch_horridus/whole/