Homology (biology)

Definition

In biology, homology is similarity in anatomical structures or genes between organisms of different taxa due to shared ancestry, regardless of current functional differences. Evolutionary biology explains homologous structures as retained heredity from a common ancestor after having been subjected to adaptive modifications for different purposes as the result of natural selection.

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ABC model of flower development Abiogenesis Actinopterygii Adaptation Adaptation (biology)Adaptive radiation Allopatric speciation Aloe Alternatives to Darwinian evolution Altruism (biology)Anagenesis Analogy (biology)Anatomical Ancestry Ancient Greek Animal locomotion Anisogamy Antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis Aquatic locomotion Aristotle's biology Arm Arthropod Arthropod leg Astrobiology Baldwin effect Bat wing Bat wing development Beetle Biodiversity Biogeography Biological life cycle Biological process Biology Bipedalism Bird Bird anatomy Bird flight Bird wing Blending inheritance Body plan Bulb Cacti Calcaneum Canalisation (genetics)Canidae Carpel Carrot Cat gap Catagenesis (biology)Catastrophism Caudal fin Cell nucleus Centipede Cephalopod fin Cephalopod limb Charles Darwin Cheating (biology)Chelicerae Chelicerata Chromosome Clade Cladistics Cladogenesis Coccyx Coevolution Common descent Comparative anatomy Comparative foot morphology Compound leaf Conservative replacement 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butterflies Evolution of cells Evolution of cephalopods Evolution of cetaceans Evolution of color vision Evolution of color vision in primates Evolution of emotion Evolution of eusociality Evolution of fish Evolution of flagella Evolution of fungi Evolution of insects Evolution of lemurs Evolution of mammalian auditory ossicles Evolution of mammals Evolution of molluscs Evolution of morality Evolution of nervous systems Evolution of primates Evolution of reptiles Evolution of sexual reproduction Evolution of sirenians Evolution of snake venom Evolution of spiders Evolution of tetrapods Evolution of the brain Evolution of the eye Evolution of the horse Evolution of the wolf Evolutionarily stable strategy Evolutionary arms race Evolutionary biology Evolutionary developmental biology Evolutionary ethics Evolutionary history of plants Evolutionary ideas of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment Evolutionary invasion analysis Evolutionary medicine Evolutionary mismatch Evolutionary pressure Evolutionary taxonomy Evolutionary tradeoff Exaptation Extended evolutionary synthesis Extinction Extinction event Facultative biped Family (biology)Femur Fibula Fin Fin and flipper locomotion Fish fin Fish locomotion Fisher's principle Fitness (biology)Flies Flight Flight feather Flipper (anatomy)Flowering plant Flying and gliding animals Foliar theory Foreleg Forelimb Fossil Fouquieria splendens Frederick Orpen Bower Frog Gait Gene Gene-centered view of evolution Gene duplication Gene expression Gene flow Genes Genetic assimilation Genetic drift Genetic variation Genome evolution Georges Cuvier Ginger Goethe Great chain of being Group selection Hair Haltere Halteres Hand Handicap principle Hemiptera Heredity Hexapoda Histone H1 History of evolutionary thought History of life History of molecular evolution History of paleontology Hologenome theory of evolution Homeobox Homogeneous (chemistry)Homology (psychology)Homoplasy Honey bee Horse Hox gene Human evolution Humerus Hybrid (biology)Hybrid speciation Hyena Hymenoptera Ilium (bone)Immune system Inbreeding avoidance Inclusive fitness Incus Index of evolutionary biology articles Inner ear Insect Insect mouthparts Insect wing Introduction to evolution Inversion (evolutionary biology)Ischium Janet Shibley Hyde John DeLamater John Wiley & Sons Karl Ernst von Baer Keel (bird anatomy)Kin recognition Kin selection Lamarckism Last universal common ancestor Leaves Limb (anatomy)Limb development Lior Pachter List of related male and female reproductive organs Lizard Lobe-finned fish Macroevolution Malleus Mandible (arthropod mouthpart)Mate choice Mating type Maxilla (arthropod mouthpart)McGraw-Hill Mediaeval Mendelian inheritance Meristem Metabolism Microevolution Middle ear Missing heritability problem Mitochondrion Models of DNA evolution Modern synthesis (20th century)Modularity (biology)Molecular evolution Monogamy in animals Mosaic (genetics)Mosaic evolution Multicellular organism Multiple realizability 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Fitch Webbed foot Weeper capuchin Whale Willi Hennig Wing Wing (insect)Wingspan Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire

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