Waese J, Provart NJ, Guttman DS
PLoS One. Published May 1, 2017
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175895
PMID: 28459802
Abstract
Phylogenetic trees are the de facto standard for visualizing evolutionary relationships, but large trees can be difficult to interpret because they require a high cognitive load to identify relationships between multiple operational taxonomic units (OTUs). We present a new tool for displaying phylogenetic relationships as a topographic map in which OTUs autonomously attract or repel one another based on their individual branch lengths and distance to a common ancestor. This data visualization paradigm makes it possible to preattentively identify the nature of the relationship between items without having to trace a complex network of branches back to the root. This tool was developed for exploring phylogenetic data, but the technique could be extended for visualizing other hierarchical structures as well.