Why Ontogenetic Homology Criteria Can Be Misleading: Lessons From Digit Identity Transformations.

The article presents a study which discussed the difficulties that have hindered the search for the mechanistic bases of character identity and related these issues to the Character Identity Network Hypothesis. The study assessed the utility of different lines of evidence in diagnosing homology. It was found that since anatomical characters more closely indicate the actions of the developmental genetic mechanisms of character individuation, they are more reliable compared to embryological homology criteria.