2003 Annual Science Report
Harvard University Reporting | JUL 2002 – JUN 2003
Evogenomics Focus Group
Project Summary
In year 5, Co-I Charles Marshall continued his statistical analyses of the fossil record as part of the Evogenomics Focus Group.
Project Progress
In year 5, Co-I Charles Marshall continued his statistical analyses of the fossil record as part of the Evogenomics Focus Group. Among other things, this focus group seeks to understand the molecular divergences among organisms and calibrate rates of molecular divergence using the fossil record. This exercise requires that the relationship between fossil discoveries and total stratigraphic range of extinct taxa be quantified. Marshall and colleagues contributed new techniques for evaluating the completeness of the fossil record, constraining estimates of primate divergence and providing sharper tools for estimating the positions of mass extinctions in stratigraphic sections.
Figure 1 Unavailable
Figure 1. Present day iron deposition along the Rio Tinto, Spain
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PROJECT INVESTIGATORS:
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RELATED OBJECTIVES:
Objective 4.1
Earth's early biosphere
Objective 4.2
Foundations of complex life
Objective 5.1
Environment-dependent, molecular evolution in microorganisms