New Useless Utility: Text Tree Maker

I finally got around to launching something at namesonnodes.org. No, it's not Names on Nodes itself, unfortunately. The project is taking a huge amount of time. But I thought I'd post something, so here's a little Flex application I made (using the new Flash Builder 4 Beta!) using a smidgen of the technology behind Names on Nodes.

Have you ever been discussing phylogeny online and wished there was an easy way to make a readable cladogram? (95% of readers leave.) Those of you who are left, check this out: Text Tree Maker. Just type in a Newick tree string, and voilá! Okay, so typing in a Newick tree string is not that easy in the first place, but it is easier.

Well, I'll be using it, anyway. Check this one out!

Ardipithecus
|--ALA-VP 2/10
`--+--ARA-VP 6/1
   |--KNM-T1 13150
   `--Praeanthropus
      |--KNM-KP 29281
      `--+--AL 288-1
         |--KNM-WT 40000
         |--KT 12/H1
         |--LH 4
         `--+--BOU-VP 12/130
            |--Australopithecus
            |  |--Taung 1
            |  |--Australopithecus (Paranthropus)
            |  |  |--SK 6
            |  |  `--TM1517
            |  `--Australopithecus (Zinjanthropus)
            |     |--KNM-WT 17000
            |     |--OH 5
            |     `--Omo 18
            `--Homo
               |--KNM-ER 1470
               |--KNM-ER 1813
               |--OH 7
               |--OH 9
               `--Homo (Homo)
                  |--D 2600
                  |--KNM-ER 992
                  |--LB 1
                  `--+--Ceprano 1
                     |--Trinil 2
                     `--Homo (sapiens)
                        |--ATD 6-5
                        `--+--Mauer 1
                           `--+--Neandertal 1
                              `--+--Florisbad 1
                                 |--Kabwe 1
                                 `--Uppsala domkyrka: Carolus Linnaeus

NOTE: Right-click on the application and select "View Source" if you want to see some of the code behind it.

Human-Chimpanzee Systematics

I've been working on a couple of projects to do with stem-humans. Naturally, these efforts necessitate creating a working phylogeny. I thought I'd post what I more or less have so far. I haven't done any rigorous work here; I'm just trying to piece things together from various publications.

This is a phylogeny of all known species within Clade(Homo sapiens Linnaeus 1758 ← Troglodytes gorilla Savage vide Savage & Wyman 1847), including some unnamed, fragmentary species that can only be differentiated from other species by location and/or time. (Note: Sahelanthropus tchadensis Brunet & al. 2002 is excluded because it doesn't seem to be clear that it does fall within this clade.) I've included links for all citations with permanent identifiers, when available, or popups with fuller information, when not. The phylogeny is interspersed with a rank-based taxonomy. (Unfortunately, there are no published phylogeny-based names to apply here.) Outlined circles indicate that the species may be ancestral to what are shown as sister groups. Species names are listed with their original prenomina (genera), regardless of current placement. I've added a note when the listed species is the type of its prenominal genus or another genus.

• • ?Orrorin tugenensis Senut & al. 2001 [typus]
  • ≅ Tribus Hominini Gray 1825
    • Ardipithecus kadabba Haile-Selassie 2001
    • ≅ Genus Pan Oken 1816
      • Pan sp. innom. McBrearty & Jablonski 2005
      • Pan paniscus Schwarz 1929
      • Simia troglodytes Blumenbach 1776 [typus Pan]
    • ≅ Subtribus Hominina Gray 1825
      • Australopithecus ramidus White & al. 1994 [typus Ardipithecus]
      • • Australopithecus anamensis Leakey & al. 1995 (?= praegens)
        • Homo praegens Ferguson 1989
        • • Australopithecus afarensis Johanson & al. 1978 [typus Praeanthropus]
          • Australopithecus bahrelghazali Brunet & al. 1995 (?= afarensis)
          • Australopithecus garhi Asfaw & al. 1999
          • Kenyanthropus platyops Leakey & al. 2001 [typus] (?= afarensis)
          • ≅ Genus Australopithecus Dart 1925
            • Australopithecus aethiopicus Olson 1985
            • Australopithecus africanus Dart 1925 [typus]
            • Zinjanthropus boisei Leakey 1959 [typus]
            • Australopithecus robustus Broom 1938 [typus Paranthropus]
          • ≅ Genus Homo Linnaeus 1758
            • Homo sp. innom. Kimbel & al. 1996
            • • Homo habilis Leakey & al. 1965
              • Homo rudolfensis Alexeev 1986
              • ≅ Subgenus Homo (Homo) Linnaeus 1758
                • Anthropopithecus erectus Dubois 1892 [typus]
                • Homo ergaster Groves & Mazák 1975
                • ?Homo floresiensis Brown & al. 2004
                • Homo georgicus Vekua & al. 2002
                • ≅ Superspecies Homo (sapiens) Linnaeus 1758
                  • Homo antecessor Bermúdez de Castro & al. 1997
                  • Homo cepranensis Mallegni & al. 2003 (?= antecessor)
                  • • Homo heidelbergensis Schoetensack 1908
                    • Homo neanderthalensis King 1864
                    • • Homo rhodesiensis Woodward 1921 (?= heidelbergensis)
                      • Homo sapiens Linnaeus 1758 [typus]