A perfect example of this, using even more flowery language is duckweed: Its a plant that evolved from the Arum Lily family, but has evolved to fit its particular ecological niche by having greatly reduced physiology, superficially appearing closer to an algae than the Spathe & Spadix inflorescence typical of Arum family plants. It grows as an undifferentiated thallus only several cells thick and a couple millimeters across, and mostly reproduces asexually via budding. Occasionally it will reproduce sexually, with the tiniest known flower of all the angiosperms, 0.3mm with a single stamen and pistil. It may have a highly reduced body plan, but it is a phenomonally successful plant, with a spoonful of plants able reproduce enough to cover a whole acre of pond in under 2 months. Just goes to show that evolution doesn't always necessarily tend towards a more complex design. And sometimes evolution to perfectly fill a niche can look like "de"-evolution from an outside perspective.
A perfect example of this, using even more flowery language is duckweed: Its a plant that evolved from the Arum Lily family, but has evolved to fit its particular ecological niche by having greatly reduced physiology, superficially appearing closer to an algae than the Spathe & Spadix inflorescence typical of Arum family plants. It grows as an undifferentiated thallus only several cells thick and a couple millimeters across, and mostly reproduces asexually via budding. Occasionally it will reproduce sexually, with the tiniest known flower of all the angiosperms, 0.3mm with a single stamen and pistil. It may have a highly reduced body plan, but it is a phenomonally successful plant, with a spoonful of plants able reproduce enough to cover a whole acre of pond in under 2 months. Just goes to show that evolution doesn't always necessarily tend towards a more complex design. And sometimes evolution to perfectly fill a niche can look like "de"-evolution from an outside perspective.