Divergence of insects and Onychophora (and of the Hoxa9-13 genes)

Range >500 million years ago
Organism Invertebrates
Reference Carroll SB. Evo-devo and an expanding evolutionary synthesis: a genetic theory of morphological evolution. Cell. 2008 Jul 11 134(1):25-36. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2008.06.030 p.33 left column 2nd paragraphPubMed ID18614008
Comments P.33 left column 2nd paragraph: "The known cases of coding sequence evolution must also be weighed against the vast timescales and taxonomic distances involved, and in light of the prevalence of functional equivalence. For instance, the insect-onychophora divergence dates to more than 500 million years ago as does the divergence of the Hoxa9-13 genes. Some divergence in activity over such timescales should not be so surprising. Rather, it is the frequent observation of functional equivalence that is the more remarkable."
Entered by Uri M
ID 117009