A tiny spin on convergent evolution

We have long known that microbes can play an important role in animal health, yet we are just beginning to explore the full range of functions microbes provide and now appreciate that they may have been providing critical roles in the evolution of species. It therefore seems logical to ask, when an animal evolves new functional traits, do the symbiotic microbes living within the animal play an essential role for the evolution of that function? We investigate whether convergent evolution of major phenotypic features in animals has resulted in the convergence of their microbiomes.