Asked by jay
A scientist discovers a new organism that is related to clownfish. What can the scientist discover by using molecular clocks?
the date that the organism first appeared in the fossil record
the age of the organism
the amount of time that the two species have been evolving apart
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The third option: molecular clocks can estimate the amount of time the two species have been evolving apart.
Why: molecular clocks use the number of genetic differences and an assumed mutation rate to estimate when two lineages last shared a common ancestor (divergence time). They do not tell you the age of an individual organism, and they only give a fossil-appearance date if you explicitly calibrate the clock with fossil dates.
Why: molecular clocks use the number of genetic differences and an assumed mutation rate to estimate when two lineages last shared a common ancestor (divergence time). They do not tell you the age of an individual organism, and they only give a fossil-appearance date if you explicitly calibrate the clock with fossil dates.
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