Molecular clocks: four decades of evolution

Abstract

During the past four decades, the molecular-clock hypothesis has provided an invaluable tool for building evolutionary timescales, and has served as a null model for testing evolutionary and mutation rates in different species. Molecular clocks have also influenced the development of theories of molecular evolution. As DNA-sequencing technologies have progressed, the use of molecular clocks has increased, with a profound effect on our understanding of the temporal diversification of species and genomes.