An amazing study shows that evolution really repeats itself!

Evolution is often considered as a random process that affects a number of traits that randomly manifest themselves as a result of genetic variations.

So much so that if we had to reverse the time of evolution and "replay the tape of life," said the late paleontologist Stephen J. Gould, he doubts that "something like Homo sapiens would ever evolve again".

But a new study of sticks suggests that evolution can sometimes be repeated in a predictable way, which can help us understand how organisms can change in response to selection pressure.

Patrick Nosil, an evolutionary biologist from the National Center for Scientific Research of France, and his colleagues studied the camouflage models of sticks, primarily Timema cristinae. Based on field research data in 10 different places over 30 years, they found that repetition is a key part of the evolution of stickworms.

"Our results imply that the evolution of the same feature is both repetitive and complex," Nosil and his colleagues write in their published article.

But since Nosil and his colleagues studied only T. cristinae and its relatives, they can only assume how much the results may differ for other taxa or whether evolution is predictable in a similar way in other parts of the animal and plant world.

It seems that now there are many examples - from moths and butterflies to fish, finches, sheep and deer - species that follow predictable evolutionary paths and return to proven traits that help them survive.