Randomized trial shows the influence of fossil taxon sampling on divergence time in Ruminantia, suggesting better age precision with increased sampling.
Key Points
This research aims to explore how fossil taxon sampling impacts divergence time estimations in ruminants using Bayesian methods.
Constructed a new morphological dataset for ruminants to assess divergence time estimations.
Tested varying fossil taxon sampling approaches and clock models.
Compared results of tip-dated and fossil calibrated node-dated analyses.
Increased sampling had a minor effect on morphological divergence times, with similar estimates across clock models.
Higher fossil taxon sampling improved precision and reduced root age artifacts.
The analysis confirmed monophyly of living ruminant families and clarified positions of several fossil taxa.