PhilSci Archive

Homology of process: developmental dynamics in comparative biology

DiFrisco, James and Jaeger, Johannes (2021) Homology of process: developmental dynamics in comparative biology. [Preprint]

[img]
Preview
Text
DiFrisco and Jaeger (2021) - Homology of process - developmental dynamics in comparative biology.pdf

Download (844kB) | Preview

Abstract

Comparative biology builds up systematic knowledge of the diversity of life, across evolutionary lineages and levels of organization, starting with evidence from a sparse sample of model organisms. In developmental biology, a key obstacle to the growth of comparative approaches is that the concept of homology is not very well defined for levels of organization that are intermediate between individual genes and morphological characters. In this paper, we investigate what it means for ontogenetic processes to be homologous, focusing specifically on the examples of insect segmentation and vertebrate somitogenesis. These processes can be homologous without homology of the underlying genes or gene networks, since the latter can diverge over evolutionary time, while the dynamics of the process remain the same. Ontogenetic processes like these therefore constitute a dissociable level and distinctive unit of comparison requiring their own specific criteria of homology. In addition, such processes are typically complex and nonlinear, such that their rigorous description and comparison not only requires observation and experimentation, but also dynamical modeling. We propose six criteria of process homology, combining recognized indicators (sameness of parts, morphological outcome, and topological position) with novel ones derived from dynamical systems modeling (sameness of dynamical properties, dynamical complexity, and evidence for transitional forms). We show how these criteria apply to animal segmentation and other ontogenetic processes. We conclude by situating our proposed dynamical framework for homology of process in relation to similar research programs, such as process structuralism and developmental approaches to morphological homology.


Export/Citation: EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
Social Networking:
Share |

Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
DiFrisco, Jamesjames.difrisco@gmail.com0000-0001-9600-1013
Jaeger, Johannesyoginho@gmail.com0000-0002-2568-2103
Keywords: homology, homology of process, dynamical systems modeling, insect segmentation, somitogenesis, comparative biology, developmental homology
Subjects: General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics
Specific Sciences > Biology > Developmental Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory
Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics
Specific Sciences > Biology > Systematics
General Issues > Models and Idealization
Depositing User: Dr. James DiFrisco
Date Deposited: 26 Feb 2021 03:17
Last Modified: 26 Feb 2021 03:17
Item ID: 18758
Subjects: General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics
Specific Sciences > Biology > Developmental Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory
Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics
Specific Sciences > Biology > Systematics
General Issues > Models and Idealization
Date: 25 February 2021
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/18758

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item