Just a brief addition to the molecular clock debate. I don't know whether
it'll be useful or not.
It's probably worth bearing in mind that mutation rates per se probably
aren't that important - a mutation will only enter a population's gene
pool if it happens in a germ line cell. I would think that this would
tend to `speed up' the molecular clocks of organisms with shorter
generatioal times, since more generations (ie more gametogenesis &
fertilizations) in a given period would allow more mutations to
accumulate, since the genes comprising the population's gene pool
would have spent a greater proportion of time as gametes.
I think the idea makes sense but I'm sure that there's a better way of
expressing it.
-Hal
