Estimating how long ago two species split up is a difficult task when only contemporary data is available. I examine how reliably speciation times can be estimated by a method based on the distribution of pairwise differences between extant DNA sequences. For these tests I use artificial molecular data obtained from an individual-based evolutionary model. This approach enables comparison of actual speciation times with estimates based on analyzing the distribution of DNA differences and on classical phylogentic reconstruction.
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313