From Molecules to Millennia: Advances & Challenges in Phylogenetic Dating

Ashigh-throughput sequencing techniques continue to advance, an increasing amountof genetic information across all branches of the tree of life is beinggenerated. With the introduction of the molecular clock hypothesis, we are nowcapable not only of making inferences about genetic divergence based on thenumber of differing mutations between sequences but also of estimatingdivergence in terms of absolute time units. Since then, numerous conceptual andmethodological advancements have facilitated bridging the gap between geneticdata and temporal divergence, jumping from molecules to millennia.Nevertheless, many challenges still remain that need to be addressed to form amore comprehensive understanding of evolution as a function of time.