Clock rate and date identifiability
Research context
postgraduate concept · conditional · As of 2026-10-10
Branch lengths in substitutions must be linked to calendar time by a clock model and calibrating information.
Key knowledge
Branch lengths in substitutions must be linked to calendar time by a clock model and calibrating information. Relaxed-clock and demographic priors alter date inference; sparse temporal signal can leave rates and times weakly identified despite narrow model-based intervals.
Conditions and scope
- State fossil/tip calibration uncertainty, rate variation and sampling dates; substitutions per site are not intrinsically years.
Sources · 1
References
Sources retain their recorded scope. A source link alone does not establish verification of every statement.
Evidence and review
First tutorial: Substitution/clock/tree priors, MCMC, burn-in and effective sample size (actual official worked tutorial)
2026-10-10 · Bounded author source inspection of clock rate and date identifiability, including the stated conditions; independent branch review is recorded separately.
Entry details
Permanent link to this entry ↗- Record identity
- res-bio-clock-calibration
- Revision
- research.1
- Structured reference record
- Postgraduate & research reference