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Molecular clocks: four decades of evolution

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 6, pages 654–662 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

During the past four decades, the molecular-clock hypothesis has provided an invaluable tool for building evolutionary timescales, and has served as a null model for testing evolutionary and mutation rates in different species. Molecular clocks have also influenced the development of theories of molecular evolution. As DNA-sequencing technologies have progressed, the use of molecular clocks has increased, with a profound effect on our understanding of the temporal diversification of species and genomes.

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Figure 1: Assessing the similarity of evolutionary rates among lineages.
Figure 2: Growth in the size of the DNA databanks and the use of the molecular clock.

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Acknowledgements

I thank A. Filipski and S.B. Hedges for their insights and for a critical review of different versions of this manuscript. G. Valente and V. Swarna helped in locating references and compiling data; D. Desonie provided editorial support; and S. Subramanian, C. Kuslich, J.E. Blair and A. Briscoe provided scientific feedback on an earlier draft. This work was supported by a research grant from the US National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Center for Evolutionary Functional Genomics, The Biodesign Institute and School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, 85287-5301, Arizona, USA

    Sudhir Kumar

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Kumar, S. Molecular clocks: four decades of evolution. Nat Rev Genet 6, 654–662 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1659

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