BATH, England, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- British scientists have shown, for the first time, that fossils can be as effective as living species in producing an understanding of evolution.
While many scientists said fossils can offer insights from the past, others have been reluctant to use extinct species because the data they offer are often less complete.
But scientists from the University of Bath and Britain's Natural History Museum compared the morphological datasets of 45 animal groups, both living and extinct. By running a series of analyses they were able to measure how much the family tree of life needed to be altered when data from living and extinct species are included or removed.
They found no difference in the impact the fossil groups made on the family tree compared to living groups.
"Unlike living species, fossils offer ancient snapshots of life forms that were around at the time those branching events occurred," said Matthew Wills of the university's department of biology and biochemistry. "Also, living species have millions of years worth of change piled on top of this, which can often bury the important signals we need to understand."
The research appears in the journal Systematic Biology,
