This volume draws attention to the seminal studies and important
advances that have shaped systematic and biogeographic thinking and
continue to influence its direction today. In doing so, the book will
explode some myths currently part of biology. The book traces concepts
in homology and classification from the 19th century to the present
through the provision of a unique anthology of scientific writings. In
addition, current attitudes and practices in comparative biology are
interrogated. In order to alert prospective students to pitfalls common
in systematics and biogeography, the book highlights three principal
messages: biological classifications and their explanatory mechanisms
are separate notions; most, if not all, homology concepts pre-date the
works of Darwin; and that the foundation of all comparative biology is
the concept of relationship - neither 'similarity' nor 'genealogical
hypotheses of descent' are sufficient.