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Developmental Homology

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Evolutionary Developmental Biology

Abstract

Homology is the fundamental determinant of the sameness of biological characters or traits. When two characters stand in a relation of homology, they belong to the same character kind. For example, the eyes of humans and birds are homologous as vertebrate eyes – that is, they are the same kind of character: vertebrate eyes. Although the concept of homology originated in pre-Darwinian comparative anatomy, it was subsequently revealed to be an evolutionary phenomenon caused by common descent. Contemporary investigators work roughly within the following generic evolutionary conception of homology:

  • Homology: Two characters in distinct organisms or taxa are homologous if they are genealogically connected by continuous descent from a common ancestor that had the same character.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    James DiFrisco

Authors
  1. James DiFrisco
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Correspondence to James DiFrisco .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The KLI Institute, Klosterneuburg, Austria

    Laura Nuno de la Rosa

  2. The KLI Institute, Klosterneuburg, Austria

    Gerd Müller

Section Editor information

  1. The KLI Institute, Klosterneuburg, Austria

    Gerd B. Müller

  2. University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Gerd B. Müller

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DiFrisco, J. (2019). Developmental Homology. In: Nuno de la Rosa, L., Müller, G. (eds) Evolutionary Developmental Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33038-9_74-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33038-9_74-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33038-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33038-9

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