Variation in the molecular clock of primates

Priya Moorjani1, Carlos Eduardo G Amorim2, Peter F Arndt3

  • 1Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027; Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142; pm2730@columbia.edu mp3284@columbia.edu.

Summary

Primate evolution rates vary significantly. CpG transitions offer a more reliable molecular clock for dating divergence events, like human-chimp and human-gorilla splits, due to their consistent mutation patterns.

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