Evolution
The CNR1 gene is used in animals as a nuclear DNA phylogenetic marker. This intronless gene has first been used to explore the phylogeny of the major groups of mammals, and contributed to reveal that placental orders are distributed into four major clades: Xenarthra, Afrotheria, Laurasiatheria, Euarchonta, and Glires. CNR1 has also proven useful at lower taxonomic levels, such as rodents, and for the identification of dermopterans as the closest primate relatives.
Read more about this topic: Cannabinoid Receptor Type 1
Famous quotes containing the word evolution:
“The evolution of humans can not only be seen as the grand total of their wars, it is also defined by the evolution of the human mind and the development of the human consciousness.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“As a natural process, of the same character as the development of a tree from its seed, or of a fowl from its egg, evolution excludes creation and all other kinds of supernatural intervention.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“What we think of as our sensitivity is only the higher evolution of terror in a poor dumb beast. We suffer for nothing. Our own death wish is our only real tragedy.”
—Mario Puzo (b. 1920)