[Taxacom] Hedges /Kumar (eds) The Timetree of Life

[Jason Mate]

Michael, 

maybe I didn?t make it clear. Fossils are the only objective timing-data for phylogenies. Timing a divergence with tectonic data is pattern fitting. Geologists never needed biology to time their stuff (OK, they have used it, but they can rely on the internal clocks of radio-isotopes and the "homologies" of rock composition to do this). Once again, if your timed divergence and your tectonic data coincide, you most likely have a winner. Biotas have obviously become fragmented due to tectonics and climate, but finding out which group?s current distribution is caused by vicariance or dispersal needs fossils and a phylogeny.

Best

Jason