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Background: Matrices of morphological characters are frequently used for dating species divergence times in systematics. In some studies, morphological and molecular character data from living taxa are combined, whereas others use morphological characters from extinct taxa as well. We investigated whether morphological data produce time estimates that are concordant with molecular data. If true, it will justify the use of morphological characters alongside molecular data in divergence time inference.
Results: We systematically analyzed three empirical datasets from different species groups to test the concordance of dates of species divergence inferred using molecular and discrete morphological data from extant taxa as test cases. We found a high correlation between their divergence time estimates, despite a poor linear relationship between branch lengths for morphological and molecular data mapped onto the same phylogeny. This was because node-to-tip distances showed a much higher correlation than branch lengths, because of an averaging effect over multiple branches. We found that nodes with a large number of taxa often benefit from such averaging, but some considerable discordance between time estimates from molecules and morphology may still occur because some deeper branches show large difference from two types of data.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that node- and tip-calibration approaches may be better suited for nodes with a large number of taxa. Nevertheless, we highlight the importance of evaluating the concordance of time structure in morphological and molecular data before any dating analysis using combined datasets.
Keywords
Species divergence time estimation, morphological clock, molecular clock, fossil calibration, Bayesian inference
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Editorial decision: Minor revision
On 15 Jan, 2021
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Received 22 Dec, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 17 Dec, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 17 Dec, 2020
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On 15 Dec, 2020
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On 15 Dec, 2020
Editor invited
On 15 Dec, 2020
Version 1
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Editorial decision: Major revision
On 26 Oct, 2020
Reviewer #2 agreed
On 31 Aug, 2020
Review #1 received
Received 14 Jun, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 06 Jun, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 05 Jun, 2020
Editor assigned
On 14 May, 2020
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On 13 May, 2020
Editor invited
On 13 May, 2020
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On 12 May, 2020
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Subject Areas
Evolutionary Biology
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This preprint is under consideration at BMC Ecology and Evolution. A preprint is a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Learn more about In Review
Research article
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
Peer Review Timeline
CURRENT STATUS: Under Review
The most recent version of this article is available here.
No community comments so far
Editor assigned
On 31 Jan, 2021
Submission checks complete
On 31 Jan, 2021
Editor invited
On 31 Jan, 2021
No comments provided
Editorial decision: Minor revision
On 15 Jan, 2021
Review #1 received
Received 22 Dec, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 17 Dec, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 17 Dec, 2020
Editor assigned
On 15 Dec, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 15 Dec, 2020
Editor invited
On 15 Dec, 2020
Version 1
Posted 22 May, 2020
No comments provided
Editorial decision: Major revision
On 26 Oct, 2020
Reviewer #2 agreed
On 31 Aug, 2020
Review #1 received
Received 14 Jun, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 06 Jun, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 05 Jun, 2020
Editor assigned
On 14 May, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 13 May, 2020
Editor invited
On 13 May, 2020
First submitted
On 12 May, 2020
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Evolutionary Biology
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
The most recent version of this article is available here.
Background: Matrices of morphological characters are frequently used for dating species divergence times in systematics. In some studies, morphological and molecular character data from living taxa are combined, whereas others use morphological characters from extinct taxa as well. We investigated whether morphological data produce time estimates that are concordant with molecular data. If true, it will justify the use of morphological characters alongside molecular data in divergence time inference.
Results: We systematically analyzed three empirical datasets from different species groups to test the concordance of dates of species divergence inferred using molecular and discrete morphological data from extant taxa as test cases. We found a high correlation between their divergence time estimates, despite a poor linear relationship between branch lengths for morphological and molecular data mapped onto the same phylogeny. This was because node-to-tip distances showed a much higher correlation than branch lengths, because of an averaging effect over multiple branches. We found that nodes with a large number of taxa often benefit from such averaging, but some considerable discordance between time estimates from molecules and morphology may still occur because some deeper branches show large difference from two types of data.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that node- and tip-calibration approaches may be better suited for nodes with a large number of taxa. Nevertheless, we highlight the importance of evaluating the concordance of time structure in morphological and molecular data before any dating analysis using combined datasets.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
This preprint is available for download as a PDF.
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