The molecular clock (based on the molecular clock hypothesis (MCH)) is a technique in molecular evolution that uses fossil constraints and rates of molecular change to deduce the time in geologic history when two species or other taxa diverged. It is used to estimate the time of occurrence of events called speciation or radiation. The molecular data used for such calculations is usually nucleotide sequences for DNA or amino acid sequences for proteins. It is sometimes called a gene clock or evolutionary clock.
Read more about Molecular Clock: Early Discovery and Genetic Equidistance, Relationship With Neutral Theory, Calibration, Non-constant Rate of Molecular Clock, Methods, Uses
Famous quotes containing the word clock:
“We are hardly ever grateful for a fine clock or watch when it goes right, and we pay attention to it only when it falters, for then we are caught by surprise. It ought to be the other way about.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)