How much correlation can we expect? Use r values from closely related species to estimate 'good' values, and from totally unrelated species to estimate 'bad' values. human chimp 0.8479 human mouse 0.9929 <- ? human tomato 0.3424 chimp tobacco 0.0099 tobacco tomato 0.9889 There is probably significant sampling error, fewer chimp sequences available than mouse, human, or tobacco. The numbers are not exactly what we'd expect, but can provide a rough guide.