Stable release v4.0 License Freeware | Type Bioinformatics Website www.timetree.org | |
TimeTree is a free public database developed by S. Blair Hedges and Sudhir Kumar, now at Temple University, for presenting times of divergence in the tree of life. The basic concept has been to produce and present a community consensus of the timetree of life from published studies, now numbering 2,687, and allow easy access to that information, on the web or mobile device. Although the database currently permits searching for average node times between two species or higher taxa, the TimeTree web site indicates that other features such as browsing the timetree of life will be available in 2016. TimeTree has been used in public education to conceptualize the evolution of life, such as in high school settings. The original development of TimeTree dates to the late 1990s, with initial support from NASA Astrobiology Institute. Since then it has been supported by additional grants from NASA, and by NSF and NIH.
Features
TimeTree users can search for the names of two species, such as cat and dog, to obtain the mean and median time estimates for their divergence, in millions of years. The results also show all individual time estimates, from each study, next to a geologic timescale, indicating geologic periods. Separately, a table lists the time estimates, downloadable as a spreadsheet, from each study along with references and links to the abstracts of the original articles. The database also allows search of timetree articles by author name. The entire book Timetree of Life is also presented on the site.