Research overview: molecular clocks and divergence dating in cats

Estimating when cat lineages diverged requires calibrating molecular substitution rates against the fossil record, a process fraught with uncertainty when fossils are sparse. This overview surveys how felid divergence dating combines genetic distances with fossil calibration points to place the origin of the modern radiation around eleven million years ago and the recency of splits within genera like Panthera and Felis. It discusses the sensitivity of these estimates to calibration choices, the use of relaxed clocks that allow rates to vary across the tree, and how refined timescales underpin everything from biogeographic reconstructions to interpreting the rapidity of felid speciation.