Since 2001, MorphoBank has become a core tool for research in phylogenetics, specifically systematics and cladistics. Now, more than twenty years after its initial development, MorphoBank is re-platforming. We want your input on the new look, feel, and functionality.

Maintaining the tools you rely on

MorphoBank has remained such a tried-and-true tool for evolutionary researchers largely due to its reliable and valuable functionality. Two core functionalities for MorphoBank include:

• Long-term repository for morphological data matrices and associated 2D or 3D images that are described in peer-reviewed publications. 
• Creation and analysis of morphological matrices. Some analyses, such as parsimony or Bayesian inference, may require significant computational resources depending on evolutionary model parameters. MorphoBank has partnered with CIPRES (Cyberinfrastructure for Phylogenetic Research) Science Gateway for tree building using PAUP*. Without leaving MorphoBank, users can select model parameters for matrix analysis and send it to CIPRES, which returns a tree and related files. 

Adding additional resources

With the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), and in partnership with CIPRES, the MorphoBank team is in the process of re-platforming the software and incorporating additional tree-building algorithms — including Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian, plus an additional parsimony option in Tree Analysis using New Technology (TNT). 

We welcome user feedback and suggestions. To participate, visit the mirrored test site at https://beta.morphobank.org/. Take as much time as you’d like to experiment and explore. Then email comments to  the team at curator@morphobank.org. Testing and feedback will remain open until September 21, 2026.