Question

According to the molecular clock, how long ago did modern humans and neanderthals share a common ancestor? 25,000 ya 140,000 ya 300,000 ya 700,000 ya 2 mya

Answer 1

Molecular clocks starts counting mutations at the actual time of divergence, and are used to estimate the time since a common ancestor. It suggests that a lineage split occurred 700 000 years ago, 300 000 years earlier than first thought.