Assembling the Tree of Life: Research Needs in Phylogenetics and Phyloinformatics

Science and society would benefit enormously from detailed and well-supported knowledge of the Tree of Life (TOL). At present, however, we know relatively little about the phylogenetic relationships of most of the species on Earth, or even among many of the major branches of the Tree. Fortunately, we have reached a turning point. Owing to fundamental theoretical advances, to the development of powerful analytical tools, and to the availability of major new sources of data, we now have the power to assemble the entire TOL. Much of this task can be accomplished within the next two decades, given sufficient vision, resources, and coordination.