I share your excitement though I’m not a biologist. I understand that this iterative evidence was more common that we believe, especially when judging parts of biological creature than a whole. I’ve heard that at three distinct times in evolutionary history, an animals “returned” to the ocean to become dolphin like creatures. These evolutionary convergences are environmental driven as I understand it.
Myth drives many theories though as a fundamental level. Nietzsche called it the longing for origins, though many theorists others were involved from Darwin to de Saussure. The idea that Native Americans came from Africa is part of the search for origins as it is a foundational belief in the Mormon religion who claim that the Native people brought the Book of Mormon from Africa from across the middle east, thus creating a direct connection to Jesus and Christianity. I believe it is even in the Mormon bible, which is not the New Testament. I read it along time ago. Unfortunately religious myths start unbreakable beliefs that grow into ideas like this. Thanks for sharing.