Data from: Synthesis of phylogeny and taxonomy into a comprehensive tree of life

Reconstructing the phylogenetic relationships that unite all lineages (the
tree of life) is a grand challenge. The paucity of homologous character
data across disparately related lineages currently renders direct
phylogenetic inference untenable. To reconstruct a comprehensive tree of
life, we therefore synthesized published phylogenies, together with
taxonomic classifications for taxa never incorporated into a phylogeny. We
present a draft tree containing 2.3 million tips—the Open Tree of Life.
Realization of this tree required the assembly of two additional community
resources: (i) a comprehensive global reference taxonomy and (ii) a
database of published phylogenetic trees mapped to this taxonomy. Our open
source framework facilitates community comment and contribution, enabling
the tree to be continuously updated when new phylogenetic and taxonomic
data become digitally available. Although data coverage and phylogenetic
conflict across the Open Tree of Life illuminate gaps in both the
underlying data available for phylogenetic reconstruction and the
publication of trees as digital objects, the tree provides a compelling
starting point for community contribution. This comprehensive tree will
fuel fundamental research on the nature of biological diversity,
ultimately providing up-to-date phylogenies for downstream applications in
comparative biology, ecology, conservation biology, climate change,
agriculture, and genomics.