Abstract
The words we use for describing biological systems and their transformations through development and evolution can recurrently perform as ‘conceptual traps’, i.e. as representations that limit the possibilities of improving our understanding of the very processes they are called to describe. The main focus of this contribution is on the paradigmatic case of segmentation. Limits and drawbacks of the concept of ‘segment’ are critically discussed. Its value as a descriptive unit does not entitle it as a sensible unit for other uses, as for instance investigating the evolution of the developmental process of segmentation.References
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