Grass Phylogeny Working Group

Reconstructing the evolutionary tree of life (phylogeny) is a major goal in biology right now.  Leaving aside the question of whether the "tree" is better described as a "thicket" (more and more evidence does seem to be pointing in that direction), this is a massive undertaking.  The economic and ecological importance of grass species is good news on this front - it means that the grass family (Poaceae) is one group that evolutionary biologists are already working hard on.

Some of our partners on the GrassPortal project are driving the ongoing efforts in this area.  Erika Edwards at Brown University, Nicolas Salamin at the University of Lausanne and Stephen Smith at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) are leading an international group tackling this problem. The evolutionary tree they come up with will go straight into the GrassWeb project at Lausanne, where GrassPortal will pick it up.  More details from NESCent:
NESCent grass phylogeny working group