Output from a BEAST analysis viewed in the Fig Tree program showing the inferred phylogenetic relationships among >300 ant samples from around the world.CORRIE SAUX MOREAU, FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Constructing an evolutionary tree can seem as unappetizing as filing taxes to those not fluent in computer-speak. But, alas, learning how one organism relates to another is often a necessary first step in approaching biological questions, be they about the evolution of drug-resistant strains or the origin of body parts. Advanced software for aligning genetic or protein sequences and constructing phylogenies exists, but most programs require entering lines of computer script. Richard Ree, an evolutionary biologist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, explains that the scant commercial interest in developing phylogenetics software has forced biologists to largely write programs on their own. “As a result, the user interface tends to suffer because we don’t have the time to go back and make ...
