▁to ▁be ▁used ▁as ▁gen etic ▁markers ▁of ▁line age . ▁Using ▁a ▁protocol ▁based ▁on ▁gen ome ▁alignment ▁to ▁estimate ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁NUM T ▁in ▁closely ▁related ▁species , ▁Haz k ani - C ovo ▁and ▁Gra ur ▁could ▁not ▁only ▁identify ▁evolution ary ▁events ▁that ▁may ▁have ▁affected ▁NUM T ▁composition ▁in ▁each ▁gen ome ▁but ▁could ▁also ▁re construct ▁the ▁NUM T ▁make up ▁in ▁the ▁common ▁ancest or ▁of ▁human ▁and ▁ch imp anze e . ▁NUM T s ▁can ▁be ▁also ▁used ▁to ▁compare ▁the ▁rate ▁of ▁non function al ▁nuclear ▁sequence ▁evolution ▁to ▁that ▁of ▁functional ▁m t D NA ▁and ▁determine ▁the ▁rate ▁of ▁evolution ▁by ▁the ▁rate ▁of ▁mut ation ▁accum ulation ▁along ▁NUM T ▁sequences ▁over ▁time . ▁The ▁least ▁select ively ▁const rained ▁regions ▁are ▁the ▁segments ▁with ▁the ▁most ▁diver gence ▁from ▁the ▁mit och ond rial ▁sequence . ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁prom ising ▁applications ▁of ▁NUM T ▁study ▁is ▁its ▁use ▁in ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁nuclear ▁mut ation . ▁In ▁met az o ans , ▁NUM T s ▁are ▁considered ▁non - function al . ▁Therefore , ▁nuclear ▁mut ations ▁can ▁be ▁distinguished ▁from ▁mit och ond rial ▁changes ▁and ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁nucle ot ide ▁substitution , ▁insert ion , ▁and ▁delet ion ▁would ▁be ▁possible . ▁Additionally , ▁the ▁hom ology ▁of ▁par alog ous ▁NUM T ▁sequences ▁with ▁the ▁m t D NA ▁allows ▁testing ▁for ▁local ▁sequence ▁effects ▁on ▁mut ation . ▁All ▁these ▁information