An ontology to clarify homology-related concepts.

Although homology is a fundamental concept in biology and is one of the shared channels of communication universal to all biology [1], it is difficult to find a consensus definition [2]. Indeed, the interpretations of homology have changed as biology has progressed. New terms, such as paramorphism [3], have been introduced into the literature with mixed success. In addition, different research fields operate with different definitions of homology, for example the mechanistic usage of evo-devo [4] is not strictly historical and would not be acceptable in cladistics.

[1]  A. Meyer,et al.  Conservation and co-option in developmental programmes: the importance of homology relationships , 2005, Frontiers in Zoology.

[2]  W. Fitch.  Distinguishing homologous from analogous proteins. , 1970, Systematic zoology.

[3]  M. West-Eberhard.  Developmental plasticity and evolution , 2003 .

[4]  J. Bard,et al.  Ontologies in biology: design, applications and future challenges , 2004, Nature Reviews Genetics.

[5]  P. Stevens,et al.  Homology and Phylogeny: Morphology and Systematics , 1984 .

[6]  B. Hall.  Homoplasy and homology: dichotomy or continuum? , 2007, Journal of human evolution.

[7]  Brian K. Hall,et al.  Homology: The hierarchical basis of comparative biology , 1994 .

[8]  S. Carroll,et al.  Fossils, genes and the evolution of animal limbs , 1997, Nature.

[9]  Rolf Rutishauser,et al.  Evo-devo and the search for homology (“sameness”) in biological systems , 2005, Theory in biosciences.

[10]  A. Minelli.  Limbs and tail as evolutionarily diverging duplicates of the main body axis , 2000, Evolution & development.

[11]  G. Wagner.  The Biological Homology Concept , 1989 .

[12]  M. Ashburner,et al.  The OBO Foundry: coordinated evolution of ontologies to support biomedical data integration , 2007, Nature Biotechnology.

[13]  Ingo Brigandt.  Homology in comparative, molecular, and evolutionary developmental biology: the radiation of a concept. , 2003, Journal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution.

[14]  W. Fitch.  Homology a personal view on some of the problems. , 2000, Trends in genetics : TIG.

[15]  K. Kleisner,et al.  The Formation of the Theory of Homology in Biological Sciences , 2007, Acta biotheoretica.

[16]  P. Martinez,et al.  Patterns of gene expression: homology or homocracy? , 2003, Development Genes and Evolution.