Figure 1.

Relational data in biological systems. Repeating genotypic and phenotypic patterns emerge frequently in the study of biological systems. These biological patterns are expressed across multiple scales of granularity. Illustrated here are three different scales of biological elements (behavioral, structural, and genetic) in different animal species, with lines representing conceptual relationships between elements. At the macroscale, we observe behavioral similarities across different species, such as the ability to fly in birds and fruit flies. However, a closer lens on the neurological substrate of this behavior may tell a different story: that mesoscale structural brain architecture differs significantly between birds and fruit flies, and is more similar between insects (e.g., fruit flies and ants) and between mammals (e.g., mice and cats). Despite differences in structural brain architecture, we might find that animals of different species share commonalities in genetic code that manifest similarly in physical attributes. Although differences in each element reveal unique qualities of each individual animal species, examining relational data can provide a more comprehensive view of the functional role of each element ecologically.