EVOLUTIONARY DIVERGENCE OF AP-PCR (RAPD) PATTERNS

Rates at which AP-PCR patterns diverge among isolated taxa were examin ed to test whether they exhibit clocklike regularity. The results show ed that rates of divergence differed significantly among the groups ex amined (primates, antelopes, and Hawaiian Drosophila grimshawi). There fore, AP-PCR divergence rates cannot be used as a ''universal clock'' with an invariant rate in all animals. Nevertheless, within each group , a strong relationship existed between degree of AP-PCR pattern diver gence and time since separation of isolated taxa. Thus, AP-PCR diverge nce may prove useful for dating evolutionary events if calibrated with in a more limited taxon.