| What can DNA Tell us About the Cambrian Explosion? | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 21680419 Owner: NLM Status: In-Data-Review |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
Molecular data is ideal for exploring deep evolutionary history because of its universality, stochasticity and abundance. These features provide a means of exploring the evolutionary history of all organisms (including those that do not tend to leave fossils), independently of morphological evolution, and within a statistical framework that allows testing of evolutionary hypotheses. In particular, molecular data have an important role to play in examining hypotheses concerning the tempo and mode of evolution of animal body plans. Examples are given where molecular phylogenies have led to a re-examination of some fundamental assumptions in metazoan evolution, such as the immutability of early developmental characters, and the evolvability of bauplan characters. Molecular data is also providing a new and controversial timescale for the evolution of animal phyla, pushing the major divisions of the animal kingdom deep into the Precambrian. There have been many reasons to question the accuracy and precision of molecular date estimates, such as the failure to account for lineage-specific rate variation and unreliable estimation of rates of molecular evolution. While these criticisms have been largely countered by recent studies, one problem has remained a challenge: could temporal variation in the rate of molecular evolution, perhaps associated with "explosive" adaptive radiations, cause overestimation of diversification dates? Empirical evidence for an effect of speciation rate, morphological evolution or ecological diversification on rates of molecular evolution is examined, and the potential for rate-variable methods for molecular dating are discussed. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Lindell Bromham |
Related Documents
:
|
22287909 - Revision of the pseudo-orbweavers of the genus fecenia simon, 1887 (araneae, psechridae... 22317349 - Computer re-sampling for demographically representative user populations in anthropomet... 22329639 - Population pharmacokinetics of mycophenolic acid and dose optimization with limited sam... 22744509 - Investigation of a low cost method to quantify cosmetic defect. 22114219 - Phytogeographic implications of fossil endocarps of menispermaceae from the paleocene o... 22414129 - Road traffic injury in china: a review of national data sources. 14724639 - Functional genomic hypothesis generation and experimentation by a robot scientist. 22396759 - Automatic analysis of composite physical signals using non-negative factorization and i... 2940049 - A new ecg classifier based on linear prediction techniques. |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Integrative and comparative biology Volume: 43 ISSN: 1540-7063 ISO Abbreviation: Integr. Comp. Biol. Publication Date: 2003 Feb |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2011-06-17 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 101152341 Medline TA: Integr Comp Biol Country: England |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 148-56 Citation Subset: - |
Affiliation:
|
Centre for the Study of Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK. |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
|
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: The segmented urbilateria: a testable scenario.
Next Document: The cambrian fossil record and the origin of the phyla.