Answer :
Final answer:
Water-dwelling animals like otters and whales have a fusiform shape that allows them to swim efficiently by minimizing drag, unlike land mammals which are primarily constrained by gravity. Despite differing evolutionary paths, the similarity in body shapes of fish and whales, both water-based organisms, exemplify convergent evolution.
Explanation:
Animals with bilateral symmetry like otters and whales that live in water usually have a fusiform shape, a tubular-shaped body tapered at both ends. This shape significantly decreases the drag as the animal swims through water, enabling high-speed swimming. For instance, some types of sharks can swim at fifty kilometres an hour and some dolphins at 32 to 40 kilometres per hour.
On the other hand, land-dwelling mammals such as cheetahs run with different adaptations. Since these organisms are mainly constrained by gravity and drag is relatively unimportant, their structure and movement differ from aquatic creatures.
Furthermore, evolutionary adaptations due to environmental factors have led to the development of similar body shapes in whales and fish, despite their divergent evolutionary paths. Such morphological similarities, despite being from different categories of animals, depict the effect of adaptations for a shared environment.
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