ReviewFrontiers in genetics2019
Using the Fossil Record to Evaluate Timetree Timescales.
Review in Frontiers in genetics, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed.
- Re-evaluating molecular clock maximum age calibrations revives pre-Ediacaran divergence estimates for animals.Science advances · 2026Article
- Parting ways: Pan-Homo divergence revisited.Primates; journal of primatology · 2026Review
- Environmental phylogenetics supports a steady diversification of crown eukaryotes starting from the mid-Proterozoic.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Article
- Practical Guide and Review of Fossil Tip-Dating in Phylogenetics.Systematic biology · 2026Review
- Synthesis of molecular data on Mactroidea (Bivalvia): phylogenetic implications and open questions.PeerJ · 2026Article
- Dating the Bacterial Tree of Life Based on Ancient Symbiosis.Systematic biology · 2025Article
- Bayesian modelling of the fossil record enlightens the evolutionary history of Hemiptera.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- New fossils imply a deeper origin of modern birds in the Mesozoic.National science review · 2025Review
- Ediacaran origin and Ediacaran-Cambrian diversification of Metazoa.Science advances · 2024Article
- Two Notorious Nodes: A Critical Examination of Relaxed Molecular Clock Age Estimates of the Bilaterian Animals and Placental Mammals.Systematic biology · 2024Article
- Article
- Fossil-calibrated molecular clock data enable reconstruction of steps leading to differentiated multicellularity and anisogamy in the Volvocine algae.BMC biology · 2024Article
- No Signs of Adaptations for High Flight Intensity in the Mitochondrial Genome of Birds.Genome biology and evolution · 2023Article
- A timescale for placental mammal diversification based on Bayesian modeling of the fossil record.Current biology : CB · 2023Article
- Identification of the Major Effector StSROs in Potato: A PotentialInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- The diverse terminology of reptile eggshell microstructure and its effect on phylogenetic comparative analyses.Journal of anatomy · 2022Review
- Phylogenomic Evidence for the Origin of Obligate Anaerobic Anammox Bacteria Around the Great Oxidation Event.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
- Standard Candles for Dating Microbial Lineages.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2022Article
- A Computational Protocol for Dating the Evolution of Cyanobacteria.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
1 author.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The fossil and geologic records provide the primary data used to established absolute timescales for timetrees. For the paleontological evaluation of proposed timetree timescales, and for node-based methods for constructing timetrees, the fossil record is used to bracket divergence times. Minimum brackets (minimum ages) can be established robustly using well-dated fossils that can be reliably assigned to lineages based on positive morphological evidence. Maximum brackets are much harder to establish, largely because it is difficult to establish definitive evidence that the absence of a taxon in the fossil record is real and not just due to the incompleteness of the fossil and rock records. Five primary methods have been developed to estimate maximum age brackets, each of which is discussed. The fact that the fossilization potential of a group typically decreases the closer one approaches its time of origin increases the challenge of estimating maximum age brackets. Additional complications arise: 1) because fossil data actually bracket the time of origin of the first relevant fossilizable morphology (apomorphy), not the divergence time itself; 2) due to the phylogenetic uncertainty in the placement of fossils; 3) because of idiosyncratic temporal and geographic gaps in the rock and fossil records; and 4) if the preservation potential of a group changed significantly during its history. In contrast, uncertainties in the absolute ages of fossils are typically relatively unimportant, even though the vast majority of fossil cannot be dated directly. These issues and relevant quantitative methods are reviewed, and their relative magnitudes assessed, which typically correlate with the age of the group, its geographic range, and species richness.
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