| Online Document
J. Buettner-Janusch and R. Hill, "Evolution
of Hemoglobin in Primates," in Evolving Genes and Proteins,
eds. V. Bryson and H. Vogel (New York: Academic Press, 1965).
pp. 167-181
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In this article, Buettner-Janusch
and Hill set out to reconstruct Primate phylogenies by comparing
the hemoglobin molecules of living species. In the course
of their work, the authors strongly advocate an integrative
approach to evolutionary biology in which neither organismal
nor molecular data alone dominate. They especially caution
that the use of molecular data alone, without an understanding
of the organisms in which these molecules reside, can lead
to nonsensical conclusions. For instance, they write that
although the structure of the hemoglobins of man and gorilla
are highly similar, this is "simply not a datum that
is conclusive in systematics." Bearing these cautions
in mind, they find that there is very little variation in
the alpha-chain among the Primate species, but a great deal
in the other chains. However, by comparing the number of amino
acid substitutions to the date of evolutionary divergence
gleaned from anthropological work, they determine that rates
of molecular evolution vary for each hemoglobin chain differs
considerably. This leads them to conclude that evolution at
the molecular level is governed by selective forces, and is
not neutral. (jda)
This page was written by Michael Dietrich and Jay Aronson.
It was last updated on 23 April 2004.
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