TY - JOUR
AU1 - Inglis, William G.
AB - The Observational Basis or Homology WILLIAM G. INGLIS Introduction equivalence with no implications of phylo- genetic or evolutionary origins (but see The long-standing argument about the final definitions). meaning of the term homology has acquired A further semantic difficulty must be added impetus with the recent use of elec- cleared up before I continue. This is the tronic computors in the preparation of bio- meaning of the word similarity. The mean- logical classifications and the associated ing of the word as used to describe the attempts to criticise the methods of so- degree of phenetic relationship reflected by called "classical taxonomy." Much of the a classification differs from the meaning it argument is semantic and appears to be has in a sentence such as "Homology is largely attributable to misunderstandings similarity attributable to common ancestry." about what has been done in the past, is The first usage involves a relative assess- being done at present, and must inevitably continue to be done in future. Briefly, ment of a variable or variables on the basis when two structures are described as hom- of which more than two things are consid- ologous (or homologues), an absolute state- ered and ranked, while 
TI - The Observational Basis of Homology
JF - Systematic Biology
DO - 10.2307/sysbio/15.3.219
DA - 1966-09-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/the-observational-basis-of-homology-zCDTT8eKty
SP - 219
EP - 228
VL - 15
IS - 3
DP - DeepDyve
ER -