A unified view of homology

Abstract

As it spread through time and into distinct areas of science—from comparative anatomy to evolutionary biology, cladistics, developmental and molecular biology—the homology concept has changed considerably, presenting various meanings. Despite many attempts at developing a comprehensive understanding of the concept, this context-sensitive notion of homology has been a subject of an ongoing debate. Inspired by that and following Kevin de Queiroz and Richard Mayden's view on species concept and delimitation, we presented in this article an attempt to systematize and advance the understanding of the homology problem. Our main goals were: (i) to present a comprehensive checklist of ‘concepts of homology’; (ii) to identify which are really concepts with ontological definitions (theoretically rooted in structural correspondence and common ancestry), and which are, in fact, not concepts, but epistemological (empirical and methodological) criteria of homology delimitation; (iii) to provide a synonymy of the concepts and criteria of homology delimitation; (iv) to present a hierarchy of homology concepts within Hennig's hologenetic system; and (v) to endorse the adoption of a unified view of homology by treating homology as a correspondence of spatio-temporal properties (genetic, epigenetic, developmental and positional) at the level of the individual, species or monophyletic group. We found 59 ‘concepts of homology’ in the literature, from which 34 were categorically treated as concepts, 17 as criteria of homology delimitation, Four were excluded from our treatment, and Müller’s five concepts were rather treated as approaches to homology. Homology concepts and criteria were synonymized based on structural correspondence, replicability, common ancestry, genetic and epigenetic developmental causes, position and optimization. Regarding the synonymy, we conclusively recognized 21 different concepts of homology, and five empirical and four methodological criteria. Hierarchical ontological aspects of homology were systematized under Hennig's hologenetic system, based on the existence of ontogenetic, tokogenetic and phylogenetic levels of homology. The delimitation of tokogenetic and phylogenetic homologies depends on optimization criteria. The unified view of homology is discussed in the context of the ancestral angiosperm flower.