Publisher's Synopsis
Plants and animals that are unrelated sometimes resemble one another in astonishing detail. These similarities are the result of parallelism, convergence, and reversal, collectively termed homoplasy. The independent evolution of similar characteristics can be thought of as the converse of homology, which is the shared similarity between organisms that results from shared ancestry or a common evolutionary history.;In contrast, homoplasy is the shared similarities between organisms that is not the result of shared evolutionary history. In the past, it has been thought to be an error of the scientist unable to distinguish subtly different characteristics between animals and plants. More recently, however, studies of homoplasy are recognized as new opportunities for the exploration of biodiversity. This book explores new ways to view this phenomenon.
