23 APR 2012 by ideonexus
Ontogeny and Phylogeny
A living organism must be studied from two distinct aspects. One of these is the causal-analytic aspect which is so fruitfully applicable to ontogeny. The other is the historical descriptive aspect which is unravelling lines of phylogeny with ever-increasing precision. Each of these aspects may make suggestions concerning the possible significance of events seen under the other, but does not explain or translate them into simpler terms.Two important ways of looking at an organism: it's origin and structure, and it's taxonomical location.