[Annelida] metamerism

[J. Kirk Fitzhugh]

Re obfuscating rather than illuminating terminology, credit can be given 
to Lankester for introducing the terms homogeny and homoplasy (1871), as 
replacements for the one term homology.  What has been obfuscating is 
the fact that subsequent biologists, up to the present, have not fully 
appreciated, much less correctly interpreted Lankester's insight.

Kirk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Kirk Fitzhugh, Ph.D.
Curator of Polychaetes
Invertebrate Zoology Section
Research & Collections Branch
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90007
Phone: 213-763-3233
FAX: 213-746-2999
e-mail: kfitzhug from nhm.org
http://www.nhm.org/research/annelida/staff.html
http://www.nhm.org/research/annelida/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Geoff Read wrote:
> Let us go back a way. Here is  Lankester's view of metamerism.
>
> Lankester, E.R. (1904). The Structure and Classification of the
> Arthropoda. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science s2-47: 523-582 
>
> There is much, much more, showing the joy of morphologists of the time
> in inventing terminology that is obfuscating rather than illuminating....
>