Challenges in estimating species' age from phylogenetic trees.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

Species age, the elapsed time since origination, can give insight into how species longevity might influence eco-evolutionary dynamics, which has been hypothesized to influence extinction risk. Traditionally, species' ages have been estimated from fossil records. However, numerous studies have recently used the branch lengths of time-calibrated phylogenies as estimates of the ages of extant species. This approach poses problems because phylogenetic trees only contain direct information about species identity at the tips and not along the branches. Here, we show that incomplete taxon sampling, extinction, and different assumptions about speciation modes can significantly alter the relationship between true species age and phylogenetic branch lengths, leading to high error rates.

SUBMITTER: Del Cid CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11741515 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature