Abstract:
:Despite hopes that the processes of molecular evolution would be simple, clock-like and essentially universal, variation in the rate of molecular evolution is manifest at all levels of biological organization. Furthermore, it has become clear that rate variation has a systematic component: rate of molecular evolution can vary consistently with species body size, population dynamics, lifestyle and location. This suggests that the rate of molecular evolution should be considered part of life-history variation between species, which must be taken into account when interpreting DNA sequence differences between lineages. Uncovering the causes and correlates of rate variation may allow the development of new biologically motivated models of molecular evolution that may improve bioinformatic and phylogenetic analyses.
journal_name
Biol Lettjournal_title
Biology lettersauthors
Bromham Ldoi
10.1098/rsbl.2009.0136subject
Has Abstractpub_date
2009-06-23 00:00:00pages
401-4issue
3eissn
1744-9561issn
1744-957Xpii
rsbl.2009.0136journal_volume
5pub_type
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