Dolphins may not be relatives with other sea creatures like sharks, but they have similar traits, but new research ties the sea mammals to bats, Live Science reported.

Convergent evolution is a phenomenon where different species that live similar lives develop similar genetic traits. For example, dolphins are mammals and sharks are fish, but they both live in water so they need a stabilizing dorsal fin and a tail for propelling themselves .

Scientists have taken convergent evolution one step further and suggested it has caused different species to resemble one another on a genetic level, not just physically. The researchers first analyzed animals that independently developed echolocation, a sonar technique for imaging the world using sound.

The researchers analyzed more than 2,300 genes in 22 mammals including bottlenose dolphins, four species of echolocation bats and two non-echolocation bats.

Echolocation is a complex mix of generation and reception that requires brain activity to send ultrasonic pulses and signals. This trait developed separately in bats and dolphins, but it helps them do similar things, like hunt for prey and avoid hindrances.

"We didn't expect to see more than perhaps 10 to 30 genes converge, probably mainly hearing-related ones," researcher Joe Parker, an evolutionary biologist at Queen Mary University of London, told Live Science. "Instead, we were able to detect many times that number."

The researchers found 200 genomic signatures consistent with convergence between dolphins and echolocation bats. The same similarities were not found with non-echolocation bats.

"Natural selection can be a very powerful force for shaping genetic sequences, and the outcomes of that process can be very similar, even in unrelated organisms," Parker said.

The research team published their study online Wednesday in Nature.

Evidence of convergence was also found in genes linked to vision, which would make sense as both thrive in dim light. Future research will look for convergent evolutionary traits such as digestion, social behavior and, what Parker said he is looking forward to, advanced intelligence.

(This article was edited to fix a mistake in reporting false information about dolphins.)