Six Impossible Things before Breakfast: Assumptions, Models, and Belief in Molecular Dating: (Trends in Ecology & Evolution 34, 474–484, 2019)

Abstract

Due to an oversight during production of this article, the phylogenetic tree used in Figure 2 was not correctly attributed. This occurred even though reproduction permissions had been obtained by the author prior to publication and the source was correctly attributed in the initial version of the manuscript. The corrected figure legend and references are shown below. The author apologises for this oversight. Figure 2. Representative Sampling (Including Representatives of Each Major Clade) Is a Common Strategy in Molecular Dating Studies. However, it violates the random sampling assumptions of some of the most popular Bayesian dating methods. The effect of representative sampling is to make the distribution of nodes different from that expected under the birth-death tree prior, which can have substantial effects on molecular dates [81.Beaulieu J.M. et al.Heterogeneous rates of molecular evolution and diversification could explain the triassic age estimate for angiosperms.Syst. Biol. 2015; 64: 869-878Crossref PubMed Scopus (66) Google Scholar] (Rightslink 4470580706622). Six Impossible Things before Breakfast: Assumptions, Models, and Belief in Molecular DatingBromhamTrends in Ecology & EvolutionMarch 20, 2019In BriefConfidence in molecular dating analyses has grown with the increasing sophistication of the methods. Some problematic cases where molecular dates disagreed with paleontological estimates appear to have been resolved with a growing agreement between molecules and fossils. But we cannot relax just yet. The growing analytical sophistication of many molecular dating methods relies on an increasingly large number of assumptions about evolutionary history and processes. Many of these assumptions are based on statistical tractability rather than being informed by improved understanding of molecular evolution, yet changing the assumptions can influence molecular dates. Full-Text PDF