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MorphoBank is a web application for collaborative evolutionary research, specifically phylogenetic systematics or cladistics, on the phenotype. Historically, scientists conducting research on phylogenetic systematics have worked individually or in small groups employing traditional single-user software applications such as MacClade,〔(MacClade ), a computer program for phylogenetic analysis, David R. Maddison and Wayne P. Maddison.〕 Mesquite 〔(Mesquite ), A modular system for evolutionary analysis, Wayne P. Maddison〕 and Nexus Data Editor.〔(Nexus Data Editor ) A program to edit NEXUS format data files, Roderick D. M. Page〕 As the hypotheses under study have grown more complex, large research teams have assembled to tackle the problem of discovering the tree of life for the estimated 4-100 million living species and the many thousands more extinct species known from fossils. Because the phenotype is fundamentally visual, as phenotype-based phylogentic studies increase in size it becomes important that observations be backed up by labeled images. Traditional desktop software applications currently in wide use do not provide robust support for team-based research or for image manipulation and storage. MorphoBank is a particularly important tool for the growing scientific field of phenomics. ==Advantages== Large phylogenetics research teams require simultaneous access by each member of the team to a single and secure copy of the team's data during a scientific research project. This single copy of the data also changes with great frequency during the data collection phase. Images that can be very helpful for documenting homology statements must be displayed, labeled and shared as homology statements develop. This cannot be accomplished elegantly with a desktop software package alone because in a desktop environment each collaborator is working on his own private copy of project data. Changes made by one participant cannot automatically propagate to others, preventing collaborators from seeing each other's data edits until they are manually (and due to the effort involved, often only periodically) merged into a single "true" dataset. In all but the smallest and most disciplined of teams, file version control and the reconciliation of changes made on multiple copies of the data emerge quickly as significant drags on productivity. MorphoBank is an attempt to address these issues by leveraging the ubiquity of the web and modern web-based application techniques, including Ajax, web service layers, and rich internet applications to provide a full-featured, net-accessible collaborative workspace for phylogenetic research. In particular, MorphoBank makes it easy to: * Share all kinds of data with geographically separated team members, including taxonomy, character and specimen data, media (including images, video and audio), phylogenetic matrices (including data in the widely used NEXUS format) and other data such as documents and genetic sequences. * Label high-resolution images using a web-based image annotation application. * Collaboratively edit project data such as phylogenetic matrices using a built-in web-based matrix editor. The editor allows the linking of labeled images to individual cells of a matrix. * Manage access to project data. Access ranges from full-access for team members to anonymous read-only access for potential reviewers. * Publish completed project data on the web in support of a published paper with a persistent URL. * Search The Encyclopedia of Life for taxon exemplar images. * Create ontologies for updating and populating matrix cells. These tasks are difficult or impossible in most existing software applications. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Morphobank」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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