Similarity that has evolved independently and does not indicate a common phylogenetic origin.
a similarity that is not homologous. Homoplasy can arise from parallelism, convergence, analogy, and chance.
Similarity that has evolved independently and is not indicative of common phylogenetic origin.
a character shared by a set of species but not present in their common ancestor
In mitochondrial or chromosomal DNA, a situation in which the same polymorphism arises independently in two or more haplogroups.Homoplastic polymorphisms are more likely in regions of high mutation rate and limit the "informativeness" of the polymorphism.In a broader biological context, homoplasy refers to similar features that are NOT derived form a common ancestral feature, and have thus arisen from parallelism, convergence, or chance.
The occurrence of similar characters in two taxa by convergent evolution rather than by inheritance from a shared ancestor. Analogy.
(Paleoanthropology) Any resemblance not due to inheritance from a common ancestor - due to parallel evol ution, reversals, analogies, convergence or mimicry It is 'false' similarity.
(adj. homoplastic or homoplasious) Similarity due to independent evolutionary change. Thus, homoplasy is a mistaken hypothesis of homology, which will confound cladistic analyses. Homoplasy is either parallelism (= independent gain) or reversal (= loss). Convergence (= analogy) is sometimes distinguished from parallelism, although the distinction may be arbitrary (and in practice the difference may be irrelevant). Convergent features are derived from distantly-related ancestors, e.g. the wings of bats and birds, or succulence in Cactaceae and Euphorbiaceae (i.e. independent evolution derived by a different mechanism, thus leading to superficial similarity). Parallelisms derive from closely-related ancestors, e.g. the nucleotide A derived independently in two descendant lineages from the same C in the same position in a DNA sequence in a common ancestor (i.e. independent evolution using the same mechanism). Convergent features can usually be distinguished by detailed examination (e.g. differences in internal anatomy), whereas in the nucleotide example this would be impossible.
(adj. homoplastic or homoplasious) Similarity due to independent evolutionary change. This may be convergence (= analogy), parallelism (these are actually the same) or reversal (= loss). Thus, homoplasy is a mistaken hypothesis of homology.
(home´ uh play zee) [Gr. homos: same + plastikos: to mold] • The presence in several species of a trait not present in their most common ancestor. Can result from convergent evolution, reverse evolution, or parallel evolution.
false homology. See Convergence, Parallelism.
Homoplasy is the similarity of characters found in different species that are NOT from common descent. Examples include the wings of insects and the wings of pterosaurs. These characters derive from convergent evolution, parallel evolution, or character reversal.
