The Open Tree of Life (OpenTree) project recently reached an extraordinary milestone for the relatively young field of evolutionary biology. It now includes a fully resolved evolutionary tree – or phylogeny – for all species of birds. This widescale collaborative effort brings together diverse evolutionary biologists and taxonomy experts. Together, they’re working to create the most accurate and comprehensive picture yet of how all of those named species relate to one another. The project evaluates impact data from almost 300 studies released between 1990 and 2024. It’s the definitive guide to the world’s 9,239 bird species, and more than 1,000 species are profiled in depth.
Dr. Emily Jane McTavish has worked for about a decade building open-source software for OpenTree. Her work has been integral to the success of the project so far. This new initiative can be enormously successful due to the tremendous progress being made in genome sequencing. These technological improvements have resulted in a constant flow of new data. As a result, OpenTree now represents over 2.5 million species, ensuring that the Tree of Life incorporates the most current understanding of evolutionary relationships among various organisms.
The Collaborative Nature of OpenTree
The OpenTree project grows and succeeds together. In part to support research purposes, specialists in evolutionary biology and taxonomy come together into an alliance. Dr. Eliot Miller reached out to Dr. McTavish about four years ago, leading to a partnership that focuses on integrating bird phylogenies into the broader OpenTree database.
This declaration underlines the desire to close the loop between work that has been published and its use in subsequent research. The main goal of this project is to close this loop by making sure that these findings are better disseminated and more successful in informing subsequent follow-up research.
“Many dozens of bird phylogenies get published every year, yet their findings—with implications for everything from taxonomy to our understanding of ancestral characters—aren’t necessarily being used for downstream research.”
Dr. McTavish’s technologies and expertise in software development for OpenTree has been vital to making sure that OpenTree is always up-to-date with new emerging data. With a fellow collaborator, she has created computer software that automatically updates the database as their information improves.
Advancements in Technology and Data Integration
“Our project should help to close this research loop so that these studies and their findings are better incorporated into follow-up research,” Miller noted, highlighting the importance of updating evolutionary relationships as new discoveries are made.
By combining data from cellular, ecological, and methylation landscape sources, researchers are able to visualize complex connections between species. Their new approach allows them to better understand these complicated relationships. Dr. McTavish remarked on the enthusiasm within their team and the importance of their work:
Birds have a unique 2000-year fascination with humanity that has spurred innumerable studies aimed at elucidating their evolutionary kinships. According to Dr. McTavish, this fascination has resulted in a wealth of scientific literature:
“Eliot is really into birds, and the lab is full of bird experts, and they also develop birding apps such as Merlin and Ebird, so that was their side of it, and I’ve been working on this software to combine evolutionary trees, so that was my side of it.”
The Significance of Bird Phylogenetics
That newly crowned tree of bird species also supercharges our understanding of evoultia on, specialty avian evolution. Today it continues to be an unparalleled resource for researchers in the humanities and sciences alike. The collaborative nature of OpenTree ensures that this comprehensive representation reflects a collective effort from numerous experts dedicated to advancing knowledge in evolutionary biology.
“People love birds, and a lot of people work on birds. People publish scientific papers about birds’ evolutionary relationships all the time.”
The newly established tree of bird species not only enhances the understanding of avian evolution but also serves as a vital resource for researchers in various fields. The collaborative nature of OpenTree ensures that this comprehensive representation reflects a collective effort from numerous experts dedicated to advancing knowledge in evolutionary biology.