Using a , scientists are able to estimate the amount of time that two species have been evolving independently.

Using a MOLECULAR CLOCK, scientists were able to estimate the amount of time that two species have been evolving independently.
Molecular clock is a method, which utilizes the mutation rate of bio molecules to estimate the time when two life forms diverge. The molecular clock derived the information it uses for its calculation from the nucleotide sequences of DNA or proteins. The clock is also called gene clock or evolutionary clock.