title: Histories of molecules: Reconciling the past.
abstract: Molecular data and methods have become centrally important to evolutionary analysis, largely because they have enabled global phylogenetic reconstructions of the relationships between organisms in the tree of life. Often, however, molecular stories conflict dramatically with morphology-based histories of lineages. The evolutionary origin of animal groups provides one such case. In other instances, different molecular analyses have so far proved irreconcilable. The ancient and major divergence of eukaryotes from prokaryotic ancestors is an example of this sort of problem. Efforts to overcome these conflicts highlight the role models play in phylogenetic reconstruction. One crucial model is the molecular clock; another is that of 'simple-to-complex' modification. I will examine animal and eukaryote evolution against a backdrop of increasing methodological sophistication in molecular phylogeny, and conclude with some reflections on the nature of historical science in the molecular era of phylogeny.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, University of Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: maureen.omalley@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Maureen A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: O'Malley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D010802:Phylogeny
keywords: Early animal evolution; Early eukaryote evolution; Evolutionary explanation; Historical science; Molecular phylogeny