<s>
MorphoBank	B-Application
is	O
a	O
web	B-Application
application	I-Application
for	O
collaborative	O
evolutionary	O
research	O
,	O
specifically	O
phylogenetic	O
systematics	O
or	O
cladistics	O
,	O
on	O
the	O
phenotype	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
hypotheses	O
under	O
study	O
have	O
grown	O
more	O
complex	O
,	O
large	O
research	O
teams	O
have	O
assembled	O
to	O
tackle	O
the	O
problem	O
of	O
discovering	O
the	O
Tree	O
of	O
Life	O
for	O
the	O
estimated	O
4-100	O
million	O
living	O
species	O
and	O
the	O
many	O
thousands	O
more	O
extinct	O
species	O
known	O
from	O
fossils	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
MorphoBank	B-Application
is	O
a	O
particularly	O
important	O
tool	O
for	O
the	O
growing	O
scientific	O
field	O
of	O
phenomics	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	O
of	O
MorphoBank	B-Application
,	O
which	O
began	O
in	O
2001	O
,	O
has	O
been	O
funded	O
by	O
the	O
National	O
Science	O
Foundation	O
's	O
Directorates	O
for	O
Geosciences	O
,	O
Biological	O
Sciences	O
and	O
Computer	O
and	O
Information	O
Science	O
and	O
Engineering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
significance	O
of	O
the	O
scientific	O
work	O
on	O
MorphoBank	B-Application
has	O
been	O
featured	O
in	O
the	O
New	O
York	O
Times( and )	O
,	O
among	O
other	O
publications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
all	O
but	O
the	O
smallest	O
and	O
most	O
disciplined	O
of	O
teams	O
,	O
file	O
version	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
and	O
the	O
reconciliation	O
of	O
changes	O
made	O
on	O
multiple	O
copies	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
emerge	O
quickly	O
as	O
significant	O
drags	O
on	O
productivity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MorphoBank	B-Application
is	O
an	O
attempt	O
to	O
address	O
these	O
issues	O
by	O
leveraging	O
the	O
ubiquity	O
of	O
the	O
web	O
and	O
modern	O
web-based	B-Application
application	I-Application
techniques	O
,	O
including	O
Ajax	B-General_Concept
,	O
web	O
service	O
layers	O
,	O
and	O
rich	B-Application
web	I-Application
applications	I-Application
to	O
provide	O
a	O
full-featured	O
,	O
net-accessible	O
collaborative	O
workspace	O
for	O
phylogenetic	O
research	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
particular	O
,	O
MorphoBank	B-Application
makes	O
it	O
easy	O
to	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Share	O
all	O
kinds	O
of	O
data	O
with	O
geographically	O
separated	O
team	O
members	O
,	O
including	O
taxonomy	O
,	O
character	O
and	O
specimen	O
data	O
,	O
media	O
(	O
including	O
images	O
,	O
video	O
and	O
audio	O
)	O
,	O
phylogenetic	O
matrices	O
(	O
including	O
data	O
in	O
the	O
widely	O
used	O
NEXUS	O
and	O
TNT	B-Application
format	O
)	O
and	O
other	O
data	O
such	O
as	O
documents	O
and	O
genetic	O
sequences	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Label	O
high-resolution	O
images	O
using	O
a	O
web-based	B-Application
image	O
annotation	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Collaboratively	O
edit	O
project	O
data	O
such	O
as	O
phylogenetic	O
matrices	O
using	O
a	O
built-in	O
web-based	B-Application
matrix	O
editor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2001	O
the	O
sponsored	O
a	O
workshop	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
American	O
Museum	O
of	O
Natural	O
History	O
in	O
New	O
York	O
to	O
develop	O
the	O
outlines	O
of	O
a	O
web-based	B-Application
system	O
for	O
a	O
collaborative	O
,	O
media-rich	O
research	O
tool	O
for	O
morphological	O
phylogenetics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
application	O
prototype	O
presented	O
at	O
the	O
workshop	O
was	O
later	O
refined	O
with	O
feedback	O
from	O
the	O
workshop	O
and	O
became	O
MorphoBank	B-Application
version	O
1.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Current	O
support	O
from	O
the	O
is	O
funding	O
current	O
feature	O
enhancements	O
to	O
MorphoBank	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MorphoBank	B-Application
was	O
hosted	O
by	O
Stony	O
Brook	O
University	O
until	O
late	O
October	O
2021	O
and	O
received	O
back	O
up	O
support	O
from	O
the	O
American	O
Museum	O
of	O
Natural	O
History	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MorphoBank	B-Application
has	O
also	O
received	O
support	O
from	O
and	O
the	O
San	O
Diego	O
Supercomputer	O
Center	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
2018	O
,	O
MorphoBank	B-Application
has	O
been	O
supported	O
in	O
part	O
by	O
,	O
a	O
non-profit	O
company	O
founded	O
to	O
sustain	O
databases	O
for	O
the	O
basic	O
sciences	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
permanent	O
move	O
of	O
MorphoBank	B-Application
from	O
Stony	O
Brook	O
University	O
to	O
was	O
complete	O
in	O
late	O
October	O
2021	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
San	O
Diego	O
Supercomputer	O
Center	O
has	O
previously	O
provided	O
technical	O
and	O
hosting	O
resources	O
to	O
the	O
MorphoBank	B-Application
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MorphoBank	B-Application
hosts	O
the	O
products	O
of	O
peer-reviewed	O
scientific	O
research	O
on	O
phenotypes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
increasing	O
volume	O
of	O
systematics	O
data	O
is	O
"	O
born	O
digital	O
"	O
and	O
MorphoBank	B-Application
is	O
well	O
suited	O
to	O
handle	O
this	O
type	O
of	O
material	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
August	O
24	O
,	O
2007	O
,	O
62	O
active	O
research	O
projects	O
were	O
hosted	O
by	O
MorphoBank	B-Application
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
6	O
completed	O
(	O
and	O
published	O
)	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
1,500	O
active	O
research	O
projects	O
are	O
hosted	O
by	O
MorphoBank	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
has	O
been	O
used	O
to	O
assemble	O
phylogenetic	O
research	O
on	O
such	O
groups	O
as	O
mammals	O
,	O
from	O
bats	O
to	O
whales	O
,	O
bivalve	O
molluscs	O
,	O
arachnids	O
,	O
fossil	B-Protocol
plants	O
and	O
living	O
and	O
extinct	O
amniotes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MorphoBank	B-Application
is	O
increasingly	O
used	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
the	O
Paleobiology	O
Database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MorphoBank	B-Application
has	O
been	O
particularly	O
important	O
to	O
the	O
initiative	O
sponsored	O
by	O
the	O
National	O
Science	O
Foundation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MorphoBank	B-Application
is	O
well-suited	O
to	O
such	O
projects	O
because	O
of	O
its	O
tools	O
for	O
merging	O
taxonomic	O
,	O
character	O
and	O
matrix-based	O
data	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
its	O
collaborative	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Highlights	O
of	O
this	O
research	O
include	O
a	O
collaborative	O
matrix	O
on	O
mammal	O
evolution	O
published	O
in	O
Science	O
that	O
included	O
over	O
4,000	O
phenomic	B-Application
characters	O
scored	O
for	O
over	O
80	O
species	O
,	O
a	O
matrix	O
on	O
extant	O
baleen	O
whales	O
featuring	O
nearly	O
600	O
images	O
,	O
and	O
more	O
.	O
</s>
