Previous attempts to quantify the adequacy between phylogenetic trees (cladograms with a
temporal dimension) and the fossil record failed because of inappropriate statistics. A
general explanation for this failure is based on a hierarchical perception of the temporal
scale. When time is conceived as a hierarchy and not as an arrow, it can be expressed by a
pectinate-shaped tree. Comparison between cladograms, based on morphological or
molecular data, and time represented by a pectinate tree leads to the discovery of temporal …