A recent article argues that the sequencing of a short segment of mitochondrial DNA, the so-called mitochondrial bar code, is a useful way of distinguishing species from each other and assigning individuals to a particular species. The article goes on to note that some 90% of species arose within the last 100,000 to 200,000 years. When historical mutation rates are taken into account, this implies that the mothers of all species probably go back some 4,000 to 10,000 years. The implications are discussed.
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Mitochondrial Bar Codes 6-30-2018 by Paul Giem
