A comparison of methods for estimating substitution rates from ancient DNA sequence data.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Phylogenetic analysis of DNA from modern and ancient samples allows the reconstruction of important demographic and evolutionary processes. A critical component of these analyses is the estimation of evolutionary rates, which can be calibrated using information about the ages of the samples. However, the reliability of these rate estimates can be negatively affected by among-lineage rate variation and non-random sampling. Using a simulation study, we compared the performance of three phylogenetic methods for inferring evolutionary rates from time-structured data sets: regression of root-to-tip distances, least-squares dating, and Bayesian inference. We also applied these three methods to time-structured mitogenomic data sets from six vertebrate species.

Results

Ou

SUBMITTER: Tong KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5956955 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature