homology in biogeography and biology

[Curtis Clark]

At 07:02 PM 9/22/99 -0500, Tom DiBenedetto wrote:
>Why hijack the word homology though?

Although I tend to agree with Tom, "homology" was already hijacked by
evolutionary biologists from a more general word that would perhaps
encompass what John means. Ray Lankester, who coined the term "homoplasy",
also coined "homogeny" for exactly what we (evol. biologists) now call
"homology" (since he knew that "homology" had a broader and more nebulous
meaning). It's a shame "homogeny" never caught on, but "homology" has
gotten a well-established meaning among evolutionary biologists.


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