Homology and Systematics: Coding Characters for Phylogenetic Analysis

Systematists, comparative biologists, taxonomists and evolutionary biologists all concern themselves with the evolutionary relationships between animals and plants. Homology is the principle underlying these disciplines. When looking at groups of organisms, shared positional similarities (homologues) provide the raw data from which hypotheses of common ancestry (homology) may be suggested. In order to explore the relationship between homologues (characters) and particular hypotheses of common ancestry, complex matrices are devised, where homologues are coded, allowing theories of homology to be developed and tested. Practically nothing has been written about this matrix-building process and yet it is of fundamental importance to our understanding of diversity and evolutionary history. This book fills the gap by discussing the different ways observations are coded and the consequences for the resulting hypotheses. It takes a pragmatic approach and uses case studies as well as theoretical examples to offerpractical solutions.

Andrew V.Z. Brower is at the Department of Entomology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR. Peter L. Forey is at the Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, London UK. Julie A. Hawkins is at the Centre for Plant Diversity and Systematics, Department of Botany, School of Plant Sciences, The University of Reading, Reading UK. Ian J. Kitching is at the Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, London UK. R. Toby Pennington is at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh UK. Paula J. Rudall is at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey UK. Robert Scotland is at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford UK. Peter F. Stevens is at the University of Missouri-St Louis, Department of Biology, St Louis, MO and Herbarium, Missouri Botanical Garden, MO. Darrell J. Siebert is at the Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, London UK. Peter H. Weston is at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. Ward Wheeler is at the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY USA. David M. Williams is at the Department of Botany, The Natural History Museum, London UK.