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Glite Dictionary
🦋 Similar traits, no ancestor 🗣️ Similar features, no origin
homoplasy

homoplasy

9.9
A trait that appears on its own in different species not from a common ancestor
  • noun
  • /ˌhoʊməˈplæzi/
  • Specialized
translation icon : homoplasia
  • Examples of homoplasy include the wings of birds and bats, which evolved independently.

Examples

  • So homology is helpful and homoplasy is confusing in determining phylogenies.

  • Researchers often study homoplasy to understand how environmental pressures can lead to similar traits in unrelated species.

  • The concept of homoplasy explains why different animals can have similar adaptations despite having separate evolutionary paths.

Synonyms

homomorphy
vshomoplasy
  • Specialized
9.9

A similar shape in animals, plants, or objects that are not closely related

is specific to traits that evolved independently, not from a shared ancestor

Surface Forms

homoplasy singular
homoplasies plural

Morphology

homoplasy = plasy (semi-transparent) = homo + plasy

The prefix 'homo-' ('same') is somewhat recognizable but the combining form '-plasy' is technical and unfamiliar to most learners.

Etymology

Homoplasy comes from Greek parts homo- meaning 'same' and -plasy meaning 'form'. That's why scientists use homoplasy for similar traits in different species, like wings in birds and bats, that evolved independently and are not from a common ancestor.