Molecular and morphological evolution in tuatara are decoupled

In the 1970s, Marie-Claire King and Allan Wilson [1] suggested that macromolecules and anatomical and behavioral features of organisms evolve at independent rates. Before then, the common view was that rates of molecular and morphological evolution are positively correlated. In accordance with this traditional view, Miller et al.[2] question our finding that tuatara (Sphenodon, Reptilia) exhibit a rapid rate of molecular evolution [3] because Sphenodon are a relict taxon with little skeletal change from Cretaceous relatives.