MantisBT - MEGA
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0006835MEGA[All Projects] Feedbackpublic2025-07-25 08:552025-07-28 10:41
guest 
gstecher 
normalminorhave not tried
resolvedno change required 
MEGA 11 
 
Charley
McCarthy
charleymcc1992@gmail.com
charleymcc1992@gmail.com
0006835: Creating dummy outgroup for using RelTime with tree of life data
Hello,

I am interested in using RelTime-BranchLengths to estimate dates for a tree-of-life dataset. As such, there is no formal outgroup in the tree.

If I were to add a dummy outgroup to the tree (1 taxon or a small clade), could I run RelTime-BranchLengths analysis with calibrations enabled on the "real" tree-of-life ingroup? Any advice on this would be appreciated!

Best,
Charley.
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Issue History
2025-07-25 08:55guestNew Issue
2025-07-28 10:41gstecherNote Added: 0008082
2025-07-28 10:41gstecherStatusnew => resolved
2025-07-28 10:41gstecherResolutionopen => no change required
2025-07-28 10:41gstecherAssigned To => gstecher

Notes
(0008082)
gstecher   
2025-07-28 10:41   
Hi Charley,

I am writing in response to your question regarding the Reltime analysis in the MEGA software. Yes, you can add a "dummy" outgroup since the Reltime analysis will only use branch lengths from the ingroup.

Best regards,
Glen Stecher