Dr Rob Lanfear works on understanding variation in rates and patterns of molecular evolution. He and Drew Allen published a paper in Nature Communications looking at the determinants of the rate of molecular evolution in plants. Here is part of their dataset.

The rate of molecular evolution in a plant family is given by the nuclear RNA substitution rate. They wanted to know what factors determined this rate. They calculated for each family, the species richness, the average maximum height, the average latitude where plants are found, and the average temperature and incident UV radiation.

Let us find out which of these factors play a role in determining molecular evolution rate. Import the data into RStudio. You will need to log$-$transform the response variable, the nuclear RNA substitution rate. Then, carry out a multiple linear regression.

DATA:

species height latitude temperature uv nuclear

$26\mathrm{.}39692965537\mathrm{.}67765727145\mathrm{.}63092053166\mathrm{.}2605760\mathrm{.}030731$

$3508\mathrm{.}41733939816\mathrm{.}62327163219\mathrm{.}81271934495\mathrm{.}0321640\mathrm{.}016144$

$8506\mathrm{.}50706114425\mathrm{.}43294251186\mathrm{.}44451184119\mathrm{.}8832910\mathrm{.}008667$

$905\mathrm{.}49118894729\mathrm{.}01250658160\mathrm{.}85420193825\mathrm{.}0522920\mathrm{.}046514$

$5805\mathrm{.}66426594734\mathrm{.}84236363127\mathrm{.}38108973374\mathrm{.}6175980\mathrm{.}008373$

$505\mathrm{.}94351753546\mathrm{.}0312432654\mathrm{.}239799162416\mathrm{.}9467640\mathrm{.}090586$

$2006\mathrm{.}72529819515\mathrm{.}3514879219\mathrm{.}14828574559\mathrm{.}9901350\mathrm{.}031285$

$20007\mathrm{.}28129143315\mathrm{.}00088481223\mathrm{.}53459274685\mathrm{.}6478090\mathrm{.}063959$

$9006\mathrm{.}1656032333\mathrm{.}94421932129\mathrm{.}26376533377\mathrm{.}6747560\mathrm{.}028791$

$7007\mathrm{.}72554554610\mathrm{.}89416158238\mathrm{.}27419874979\mathrm{.}5992740\mathrm{.}101882$

$13506\mathrm{.}93673359233\mathrm{.}4560533132\mathrm{.}35313233475\mathrm{.}8955580\mathrm{.}004744$

$5756\mathrm{.}73928367337\mathrm{.}34945058106\mathrm{.}12467533031\mathrm{.}0364490\mathrm{.}017834$

$16506\mathrm{.}59356380125\mathrm{.}87091658185\mathrm{.}8410234074\mathrm{.}9376230\mathrm{.}018597$

$5009\mathrm{.}31525129217\mathrm{.}35795114217\mathrm{.}07551014387\mathrm{.}0016470\mathrm{.}01688$

$1010\mathrm{.}6144727224\mathrm{.}50445422210\mathrm{.}15298463844\mathrm{.}3045260\mathrm{.}012273$

$32006\mathrm{.}30602975533\mathrm{.}08545865137\mathrm{.}65667933534\mathrm{.}7955430\mathrm{.}040797$

$2506\mathrm{.}73446848423\mathrm{.}78012579187\mathrm{.}08958744052\mathrm{.}799810\mathrm{.}02879$

$169\mathrm{.}1208532056\mathrm{.}169164809246\mathrm{.}44296965112\mathrm{.}65720\mathrm{.}031576$

$27\mathrm{.}0389374112\mathrm{.}742683345269\mathrm{.}36604615123\mathrm{.}6830460\mathrm{.}026483$

$27\mathrm{.}31322038715\mathrm{.}97074534229\mathrm{.}78904044557\mathrm{.}4311580\mathrm{.}034546$

$2506\mathrm{.}61734227917\mathrm{.}43015061215\mathrm{.}79164734459\mathrm{.}4257390\mathrm{.}016439$

$19\mathrm{.}6158054828\mathrm{.}97748429156\mathrm{.}55729563303\mathrm{.}9158320\mathrm{.}030246$

$210\mathrm{.}7363966810\mathrm{.}67403287254\mathrm{.}38728294947\mathrm{.}2999160\mathrm{.}029894$

$559\mathrm{.}0319440528\mathrm{.}62579144241\mathrm{.}03809584955\mathrm{.}6352230\mathrm{.}011246$

$3509\mathrm{.}1961644433\mathrm{.}53200333131\mathrm{.}2949973467\mathrm{.}6655870\mathrm{.}014431$

$927\mathrm{.}48933068421\mathrm{.}53549747183\mathrm{.}31613834287\mathrm{.}1122040\mathrm{.}034499$

$808\mathrm{.}21502793410\mathrm{.}96351614235\mathrm{.}94311894814\mathrm{.}5044060\mathrm{.}008825$

$37\mathrm{.}46344530246\mathrm{.}8129757955\mathrm{.}00295032336\mathrm{.}3790070\mathrm{.}006412$