Figure 2From: A molecular timescale of eukaryote evolution and the rise of complex multicellular lifeA timescale of eukaryote evolution. The times for each node are taken from the summary times in Table 1, except for nodes 1 (310 Ma), 2 (360 Ma), 3 (450 Ma), and 4 (520 Ma), which are from the fossil record [25]; nodes 8 (1450 Ma) and 16 (1587 Ma) are phylogenetically constrained and are the midpoints between adjacent nodes. Nodes 12–14 were similar in time and therefore shown as a multifurcation at 1000 Ma; likewise, nodes 21–22 are shown as a multifurcation at 1967 Ma. The star indicates the occurrence of red algae in the fossil record at 1200 Ma, the oldest taxonomically identifiable eukaryote [12].Back to article page