Comparative Biology

Comparative biology is a multidisciplinary approach to understanding organismic diversity (biodiversity) that uses natural variation and disparity to elucidate phylogenetic history. Comparative biologists attempt to understand the diversity and complexity of life at all levels—from genes, to anatomy, to behavior—and the critical role of organisms in ecosystems. Integrating these specific research areas is the objective of comparative biology, a field that not only promises to give us a broader, more meaningful understanding of life on Earth, but also provides a foundation for our effort to secure a sustainable environmental future. An improved knowledge of life in all its complexity is key to dealing with the especially urgent challenges of today that come with the loss of species due to the destruction or disruption of natural habitats via human-mediated processes such as global warming. Comparative biology encompasses Evolutionary Biology, Systematics, Neontology, Paleontology, Ethology, Anthropology, and Biogeography as well as historical approaches to Developmental biology, Genomics, Physiology, Ecology and many other areas of the biological sciences.

Whereas much of biology tends to focus on a single exemplar organism or a small subset of model organisms, comparative biology is a cross-lineage approach to understanding the phylogenetic history and interactions among individuals or higher taxa. The comparative approach also has numerous applications in human health, genetics, biomedicine, and conservation biology.

Comparative biological relationships are usually presented on a phylogenetic tree or cladogram to differentiate those features with single origins (Homology) from those with multiple origins (Homoplasy).