Recurrent thoughts about mathematics, science, politics, music, religion, and Recurrent thoughts about mathematics, science, politics, music, religion, and Recurrent thoughts about mathematics, science, politics, music, religion, and Recurrent thoughts about ....
Friday, September 24, 2010
Our Common Ancestor with the Moose
How long ago do you think your common ancestor with the moose lived?
Agree with Michael. My first query was between my and my kittehs -- almost 100Ma! Funny to realize that the major mammalian -- even eutherian -- divisions were already in place while we were all just little things scurrying around the feet of the dinosaurs.
I thought the disclaimer at the top of the page was worthwhile:
"CAUTION: These results are sensitive to both the classification (taxonomic names) and the "guide tree" used. For both, TimeTree uses NCBIs Taxonomy Browser, which will yield a reliable result in most cases. However, NCBI may not use the classification you believe to be correct, or that was used by a study being queried, in which case the time estimates presented here may be unusable. Other options will be available in the future. "
I'm surprised, I was about 50% too small. I thought that the common ancestor would have lived after this
ReplyDeleteAgree with Michael. My first query was between my and my kittehs -- almost 100Ma!
ReplyDeleteFunny to realize that the major mammalian -- even eutherian -- divisions were already in place while we were all just little things scurrying around the feet of the dinosaurs.
There's an app for that.
ReplyDeleteIdentical reasoning with my brother.
ReplyDeleteI had guessed 45mya.
and what Eamon Knight said.
I guess I should feel good that my guess was 70 Mya, figuring it was before the K-T. The 100 Mya number still surprises me.
ReplyDeleteI thought the disclaimer at the top of the page was worthwhile:
ReplyDelete"CAUTION: These results are sensitive to both the classification (taxonomic names) and the "guide tree" used. For both, TimeTree uses NCBIs Taxonomy Browser, which will yield a reliable result in most cases. However, NCBI may not use the classification you believe to be correct, or that was used by a study being queried, in which case the time estimates presented here may be unusable. Other options will be available in the future. "