Two common terms used in the science of   evolution are homology and homoplasy. While these terms sound similar (and   indeed have a shared linguistic element), they are quite different in their   scientific meanings. Both terms refer to sets of biological characteristics   that are shared by two or more species (hence the prefix homo), but one term   indicates that the shared characteristic came from a common ancestor species,   while the other term refers to a shared characteristic that evolved   independently in each species.

进化生物学中常用的两个术语是同源性和同形性（非同源相似性）。尽管这些术语听起来很相似（而且确实有一个共同的语言元素），但它们在科学意义上却截然不同。这两个术语都是指两个或两个以上物种（因此前缀为“同”）共享的一组生物学特性，但一个术语表示共享特性来自同一祖先物种，而另一个术语是指在每个物种中独立进化来的共享特性。