Re: your mail

["Nicholas J. Pharris" <pharrinj@PLU.edu>]

On Mon, 1 Apr 1996, Jerry D. Harris wrote:

>         Isn't "analogues" the word being sought here?  Things that arise by
> analogy (convergence on a form that isn't based on close relationships) are
> analogues, whereas those things which share homologies (similar traits
> based on close relationships) are homologues.
> 
> 
> Jerry D. Harris                       (214) 768-2750

        Perhaps "analogue" would work, but I've usually seen it used in 
reference to a *trait* that is like a *trait* in another organism, rather 
than in reference to the organisms themselves.  For instance, the wing of 
a bat is an analogue to the wing of a bird or butterfly; the eye of a 
bear is an analogue to the eye of an octopus.  Would you say that a 
pterosaur was an analogue to a bird, while a _Tyrannosaurus rex_ was a 
homologue to a bird?  Sounds odd to me.  I could be wrong, though.

Just a thought.

Nick Pharris
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447
(206)535-8206
PharriNJ@PLU.edu