Molecular systematics, also known as molecular phylogenetics, is the use of molecular data, such as DNA sequences, to infer evolutionary relationships among organisms. It is a rapidly growing field that has revolutionized the way researchers study evolutionary relationships.
Molecular systematics relies on the fact that DNA sequences are inherited from ancestors and are therefore passed down through generations. Differences in DNA sequences between organisms can be used to infer how long ago they diverged from a common ancestor.
The process of molecular systematics involves collecting DNA or protein sequences from different organisms, aligning them, and constructing a phylogenetic tree that illustrates the evolutionary relationships among the organisms. The phylogenetic tree is based on the principle of parsimony, which assumes that the simplest explanation for the observed data is the most likely.
Molecular systematics has allowed researchers to reconstruct the evolutionary history of organisms with much greater accuracy and resolution than was previously possible. It has also helped to resolve long-standing questions about the relationships between different groups of organisms and has provided insights into the timing and mechanisms of evolutionary diversification.