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Related Experiment Videos

Field homology: a meaningless concept.

R G Northcutt1

  • 1Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Department of Neurosciences, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92092-0201, USA. rgnorthcutt@ucsd.edu

European Journal of Morphology
|May 26, 1999
PubMed
Summary

Field homology, a concept in comparative biology, is challenged by cladistic analysis. This approach suggests field homology is meaningless when comparing biological characters across taxa, especially in neuroanatomy.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Comparative neuroanatomy
  • Developmental biology

Background:

  • Homologous characters are typically compared as single traits across taxa.
  • Field homology describes transformations of one-to-many or many-to-one character states.
  • This concept has been applied in comparative neuroanatomy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically evaluate the concept of field homology.
  • To determine the validity of field homology in light of new analytical methods.
  • To re-examine the interpretation of homologous characters in evolutionary studies.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of cladistic methods applied to embryonic development of neural characters.
  • Re-evaluation of character comparisons within biological hierarchies.

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  • Critique of the concept of field homology.

    • Main Results:

    • Cladistic analysis of embryonic neural characters suggests field homology is a meaningless concept.
    • The perceived need for field homology arises from comparisons at inappropriate hierarchical levels.
    • Field homology limits evolutionary explanations to parcellation mechanisms.

    Conclusions:

    • Field homology is an invalid concept in evolutionary biology.
    • Proper hierarchical level selection resolves apparent field homologies.
    • Cladistic analysis provides a more robust framework for understanding homology.