Development of an Evolutionary Timescale Database

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The time of divergence of species is a fundamental question of evolution. Some species on Earth are separated by billions of years whereas others diverged only thousands of years ago. Understanding the divergences times is critical for looking at rates of change across biology. Divergence times are obtained from the fossil record and molecular clocks, where time is measured by regular changes in DNA and proteins. A biological database of species divergence times, using fossil and molecular data, is being designed and developed to provide scientists with this information. The database will be web-based and provide molecular times at different taxonomic levels, with statistics of multigene time distribution. The ready access to this information will accelerate research in diverse fields of science ranging from molecular biology to geochemistry and astrobiology.