Homoplasy

From EvoWiki

Homoplasy occurs when characters are similar, but are not derived from a common ancestor. The characters are said to be homoplastious. If the characters were similar and were derived from a common ancestor, they would be homologous. Homoplasies that are due to convergent evolution are termed analogies.

One example would be the heads, tongues, and talons of aardvarks, anteaters and pangolins. They all have long, drawn-out snouts with slender, rope-like tongues and sticky saliva which are used in conjunction with large, curved claws to tear apart ant and termite nests. They all have similiar ecological niches, and all bear a superficial similarity with each other, but all are from different orders of mammals, Tubulidentata, Xenarthra, and Pholidota, respectively.