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Molecular clock
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{{short description|Technique to deduce the time in prehistory when two or more life forms diverged}} {{distinguish|Chemical clock|Biological clock (disambiguation){{!}}Biological clock}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Evolutionary biology}} The '''molecular clock ''' is a figurative term for a technique that uses the [[mutation rate]] of [[biomolecule]]s to [[Chronological dating|deduce the time]] in [[prehistory]] when two or more [[life form]]s [[Genetic divergence|diverged]]. The biomolecular data used for such calculations are usually [[nucleotide]] [[DNA sequence|sequences]] for [[DNA]], [[RNA]], or [[amino acid]] sequences for [[protein]]s.
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