My point is that morphology has proven to be a poor way to determine evolutionary relationships in light of modern genetic sequencing and beyond extant species or those of the recent (evolutionary) past it becomes increasingly suspect. The most recent common ancestor of humans and whales probably looked shrew like.
By the time one goes back half a billion years, morphological similarities become like snakes and earthworms - likely to arise independently based on environmental factors.
Let me put it this way: The elephant bird of Madagascar and homo sapiens evolved bipedialism as their primary form of locomotion as an adaptation to their environment. Until historical times, neither was extinct. Imagine our evolutionary successors claiming that the elephant bird is the missing link between birds and bipedal mammals of the world 500 million years from now.
By the time one goes back half a billion years, morphological similarities become like snakes and earthworms - likely to arise independently based on environmental factors.
Let me put it this way: The elephant bird of Madagascar and homo sapiens evolved bipedialism as their primary form of locomotion as an adaptation to their environment. Until historical times, neither was extinct. Imagine our evolutionary successors claiming that the elephant bird is the missing link between birds and bipedal mammals of the world 500 million years from now.