Morphology (biology)

The etymology of the word "morphology" is from the Ancient Greek {{wikt-lang|grc|μορφή}} ({{grc-transl|μορφή}}), meaning "form", and {{wikt-lang|grc|λόγος}} ({{grc-transl|λόγος}}), meaning "word, study, research".{{Cite book | title=Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français | last=Bailly | first=Anatole | date=1981-01-01 | publisher=Hachette | isbn=2010035283 | location=Paris | oclc=461974285}}{{Cite web | url=http://www.tabularium.be/bailly/ | title=Greek-french dictionary online | last=Bailly | first=Anatole | website=www.tabularium.be | access-date=2020-02-11}}

While the concept of form in biology, opposed to function, dates back to Aristotle (see Aristotle's biology), the field of morphology was developed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1790) and independently by the German anatomist and physiologist Karl Friedrich Burdach (1800).{{cite book|first= Karl|last= Mägdefrau|year= 1992|title= Geschichte der Botanik [History of Botany]|edition= 2|publisher= Gustav Fischer Verlag|location= Jena|isbn= 3-437-20489-0}}

Among other important theorists of morphology are Lorenz Oken, Georges Cuvier, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Richard Owen, Carl Gegenbaur and Ernst Haeckel.Richards, R. J. (2008). A Brief History of Morphology. In: The Tragic Sense of Life. Ernst Haeckel and the Struggle over Evolutionary Thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Di Gregorio, M. A. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=aZK004HREqgC&q=morphology From Here to Eternity: Ernst Haeckel and Scientific Faith]. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

In 1830, Cuvier and Saint-Hilaire engaged in a famous debate, which is said to exemplify the two major deviations in biological thinking at the time – whether animal structure was due to function or evolution.Appel, Toby (1987). [https://books.google.com/books?id=72fmCwAAQBAJ The Cuvier-Geoffroy Debate: French Biology in the Decades Before Darwin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208080002/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cuvier_Geoffroy_Debate/72fmCwAAQBAJ?gbpv=1 |date=2022-12-08 }}. New York: Oxford University Press.

• Comparative morphology is an analysis of the patterns of the locus of structures within the body plan of an organism, and forms the basis of taxonomical categorization.
• Functional morphology is the study of the relationship between the structure and function of morphological features.
• Experimental morphology is the study of the effects of external factors upon the morphology of organisms under experimental conditions, such as the effect of genetic mutation.
• Anatomy is a "branch of morphology that deals with the structure of organisms".{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anatomy|title=Anatomy – Definition of anatomy by Merriam-Webster|work=merriam-webster.com|date=23 September 2023 }}
• Molecular morphology is a rarely used term, usually referring to the superstructure of polymers such as fiber formation{{cite web|url= https://www.eng.uc.edu/~beaucag/Classes/Morphology.html|access-date=2010-06-24|publisher=ceas.uc.edu/|title= Polymer Morphology}} or to larger composite assemblies. The term is commonly not applied to the spatial structure of individual molecules.
• Gross morphology refers to the collective structures of an organism as a whole as a general description of the form and structure of an organism, taking into account all of its structures without specifying an individual structure.

Most taxa differ morphologically from other taxa. Typically, closely related taxa differ much less than more distantly related ones, but there are exceptions to this. Cryptic species are species which look very similar, or perhaps even outwardly identical, but are reproductively isolated. Conversely, sometimes unrelated taxa acquire a similar appearance as a result of convergent evolution or even mimicry. In addition, there can be morphological differences within a species, such as in Apoica flavissima where queens are significantly smaller than workers. A further problem with relying on morphological data is that what may appear morphologically to be two distinct species may in fact be shown by DNA analysis to be a single species. The significance of these differences can be examined through the use of allometric engineering in which one or both species are manipulated to phenocopy the other species.

A step relevant to the evaluation of morphology between traits/features within species, includes an assessment of the terms: homology and [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/a-z/Homoplasies.asp homoplasy]. Homology between features indicates that those features have been derived from a common ancestor.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofecol02edlinc|title=A dictionary of ecology, evolution, and systematics|last=Lincoln |first=Roger J. |date=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|others=Boxshall, Geoffrey Allan.; Clark, P. F.|isbn=052143842X|edition=2nd|location=Cambridge|oclc=36011744|url-access=registration}} Alternatively, homoplasy between features describes those that can resemble each other, but derive independently via parallel or convergent evolution.{{Cite book|title=Vertebrate life|last=Pough |first= F. Harvey |date=2009|publisher=Benjamin Cummings|others=Janis, Christine M.; Heiser, John B.|isbn=978-0321545763|edition=8th|location=San Francisco|oclc=184829042}}

The invention and development of microscopy enabled the observation of 3-D cell morphology with both high spatial and temporal resolution. The dynamic processes of this cell morphology which are controlled by a complex system play an important role in varied important biological processes, such as immune and invasive responses.{{cite journal | pmc=3758466 | year=2013 | last1=Doyle | first1=A. D. | last2=Petrie | first2=R. J. | last3=Kutys | first3=M. L. | last4=Yamada | first4=K. M. | title=Dimensions in Cell Migration | journal=Current Opinion in Cell Biology | volume=25 | issue=5 | pages=642–649 | doi=10.1016/j.ceb.2013.06.004 | pmid=23850350 }}{{Cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273393145 |doi=10.1109/MSP.2014.2359131|title=Signal Processing Challenges in Quantitative 3-D Cell Morphology: More than meets the eye |year=2015 |last1=Dufour |first1=Alexandre Cecilien |last2=Liu |first2=Tzu-Yu |last3=Ducroz |first3=Christel |last4=Tournemenne |first4=Robin |last5=Cummings |first5=Beryl |last6=Thibeaux |first6=Roman |last7=Guillen |first7=Nancy |last8=Hero |first8=Alfred O. |last9=Olivo-Marin |first9=Jean-Christophe |journal=IEEE Signal Processing Magazine |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=30–40 |bibcode=2015ISPM...32...30D |s2cid=12630747 }}

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• Comparative anatomy
• Computational anatomy
• Insect morphology
• Morphometrics
• Neuromorphology
• Phenetics
• Phenotype
• Phenotypic plasticity
• Plant morphology

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Category:Branches of biology

Category:Comparative anatomy