On a phylogram with branch lengths proportional to molecular changes, which of the following is true?
- A
Long branches imply common ancestry; short branches do not
- Bcheck_circle
Longer branches indicate more substitutions accumulated along that lineage
- C
Branch length is irrelevant to evolutionary inference
- D
Branch length always equals time elapsed
Explanation
In a phylogram, branch length scales with evolutionary change (e.g., substitutions per site). Different lineages may evolve at different rates, so branch length and time are not equivalent.