Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Oct 24.
Published in final edited form as: Nature. 2014 Apr 24;508(7497):494–499. doi: 10.1038/nature13206

Figure 4. Decay of Y-linked genes to a baseline level.

Figure 4

Gene numbers (on a log scale on y axis) plotted versus time (in Myr before present on × axis). Filled circles show inferred or observed gene numbers in (from left to right) Ancestral X-Y genes (before stratum formation), the MSY of common ancestor of human and opossum (176 Myr ago), bull (97 Myr ago), mouse and rat (91 Myr ago), marmoset (44 Myr ago), rhesus (30 Myr ago) and chimpanzee (6 Myr ago), and modern human MSY. Lines represent best-fit curves to data points using alternate models of decay. Exponential decay to a constant baseline provides the best fit; shaded regions represent parameters producing an equally good fit.