Biogeographic calibrations for the molecular clock

Simon Y W Ho; K Jun Tong; Charles S P Foster; Andrew M Ritchie; Nathan Lo; Michael D Crisp

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0194

Biogeographic calibrations for the molecular clock

Biol Lett. 2015 Sep;11(9):20150194. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0194.

Authors

Simon Y W Ho¹, K Jun Tong², Charles S P Foster², Andrew M Ritchie², Nathan Lo², Michael D Crisp³

Affiliations

¹ School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia simon.ho@sydney.edu.au.
² School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
³ Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

Abstract

Molecular estimates of evolutionary timescales have an important role in a range of biological studies. Such estimates can be made using methods based on molecular clocks, including models that are able to account for rate variation across lineages. All clock models share a dependence on calibrations, which enable estimates to be given in absolute time units. There are many available methods for incorporating fossil calibrations, but geological and climatic data can also provide useful calibrations for molecular clocks. However, a number of strong assumptions need to be made when using these biogeographic calibrations, leading to wide variation in their reliability and precision. In this review, we describe the nature of biogeographic calibrations and the assumptions that they involve. We present an overview of the different geological and climatic events that can provide informative calibrations, and explain how such temporal information can be incorporated into dating analyses.

Keywords: Bayesian phylogenetics; biogeography; calibration; divergence dating; molecular clock.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Calibration
Climate Change
Evolution, Molecular*
Fossils
Geological Phenomena
Phylogeny*
Phylogeography / methods*