On the origin of animals and placental mammals: a critique of literalist readings of the fossil record.

Bayesian analysis refutes explosive diversification models, showing they have near-zero probability for the origin of animals and placental mammals.

• Why it matters: Understanding the timing of major evolutionary events is crucial for reconstructing life's history, but fossil records are incomplete, leading to debates over molecular versus fossil evidence.
• What they did: The authors re-examined molecular clock data for animals and placental mammals using Bayesian model selection, correcting previous errors and addressing alleged methodological issues.
• The result: They found that explosive diversification models are highly unlikely, clarifying the timing of origins and improving best practices for molecular-clock dating in evolutionary studies.