Doesn't this approach work as well in a purely evolutionary context?
Given the Cambrian boom and subsequent gradual evolution, a molecular
model involving sudden generation of complexity and later gradual
loss in different ways in different lineages seems reasonable.
> Still I see, and won't be surprised with further work, that
> there are patterns to the losses. i.e. if all the members of one Class all
> have the identical 15bp deletion it seems improbably that all 100 or so
> samples all lost the same 15 bps of DNA independently.
Why improbable? You say the loss is due to functional constraints;
aren't all 100 or so suffering the same functional constraints?
> On the flip side one would have to argue that the members of
> the other Classes of mosses had all gained those 15bps independently.
Gaining identical sequences independently somehow seems less likely
than losing sequences independently.
-- Cliff Lundberg ~ San Francisco ~ cliff@noevalley.com