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TimeTree2: species divergence times on the iPhone
1Center for Evolutionary Medicine and Informatics, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-5301, USA.
Bioinformatics (Oxford, England)
|May 31, 2011
Summary
Finding species divergence times is now easier with the TimeTree knowledgebase. This resource provides accessible data from molecular evolution studies for scientists and the public.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Evolution
- Phylogenetics
- Bioinformatics
Background:
- Estimating species divergence times is crucial for various scientific and educational purposes.
- Information on divergence times is often difficult to access within the scientific literature.
- Existing data formats are frequently inaccessible to standard text search engines.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a public knowledgebase for accessing species divergence time estimates.
- To enable data-driven queries of peer-reviewed molecular evolution and phylogenetics publications.
- To make evolutionary divergence data readily available to a broad audience.
Main Methods:
- Creation of a public knowledgebase (TimeTree2) integrating data from published molecular clock analyses.
- Development of a user-friendly query system accepting common or scientific organism names.
- Inclusion of data from 910 studies and 17,341 species covering diverse life forms.
Main Results:
- The TimeTree2 resource provides accessible timetrees from molecular clock analyses.
- The database contains divergence estimates for 17,341 species, sourced from 910 publications.
- Complex and hierarchical data are interpreted for user queries.
Conclusions:
- TimeTree2 facilitates easy access to published species divergence times.
- The resource supports scientists, educators, and the general public in understanding evolutionary history.
- Accessibility is enhanced through a website and an iPhone application, removing the need for specialized knowledge of evolutionary nomenclature.
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