Question

The underlying assumptions of using a molecular clock to date evolutionary events are based on

Select one:

a. the neutral mutation hypothesis.

b. the balance hypothesis.

c. rates of exon shuffling.

d. the model of allopatric speciation.

e. maximum parsimony analyses.

Answer 1

The underlying assumptions of using a molecular clock to date evolutionary events are based obn the neutral mutation hypothesis.

The neutral theory of evoluation suggest that most of the genetic variation in populations is the result of mutation and genetic drift not the selction. According to this theory, if a population carries several different alleles of a particular gene,odds are that each of these alleles is equally good at performing its job , in other words that variation is neutral : wether we carry either allele B or allele C does not effect our fitness.