Project 2490: M. A. O’Leary, K. Alphonse, A. H. Mariangeles, D. Cavaliere, A. Cirranello, T. G. Dietterich, M. Julius, S. Kaufman, E. Law, M. Passarotti, A. Reft, J. Robalino, N. B. Simmons, S. Y. Smith, D. W. Stevenson, E. Theriot, P. M. Velazco, R. L. Walls, M. Yu, M. Daly. 2018. Crowds Replicate Performance of Scientific Experts Scoring Phylogenetic Matrices of Phenotypes. Systematic Biology. 67 (1):49-60.
Abstract
Scientists building the Tree of Life face an overwhelming challenge to categorize phenotypes (e.g., anatomy, physiology) from millions of living and fossil species. This biodiversity challenge far outstrips the capacities of trained scientific experts. Here we explore whether crowdsourcing can be used to collect matrix data on a large scale with the participation of the non-expert students, or “citizen scientists.” Crowdsourcing, or data collection by non-experts, frequently via the internet, has enabled scientists to tackle some large-scale data collection challenges too massive for individuals or scientific teams alone. The quality of work by non-expert crowds is, however, often questioned and little data has been collected on how such crowds perform on complex tasks such as phylogenetic character coding. We studied a crowd of over 600 non-experts, and found that they could use images to identify anatomical similarity (hypotheses of homology) with an average accuracy of 82% compared to scores provided by experts in the field. This performance pattern held across the Tree of Life, from protists to vertebrates. We introduce a procedure that predicts the difficulty of each character and that can be used to assign harder characters to experts and easier characters to a non-expert crowd for scoring. We test this procedure in a controlled experiment comparing crowd scores to those of experts and show that crowds can produce matrices with over 90% of cells scored correctly while reducing the number of cells to be scored by experts by 50%. Preparation time, including image collection and processing, for a crowdsourcing experiment is significant, and does not currently save time of scientific experts overall. However, if innovations in automation or robotics can reduce such effort, then large-scale implementation of our method could greatly increase the collective scientific knowledge of species phenotypes for phylogenetic tree building. For the field of crowdsourcing, we provide a rare study with ground truth, or an experimental control that many studies lack, and contribute new methods on how to coordinate the work of experts and non-experts. We show that there are important instances in which crowd consensus is not a good proxy for correctness.Read the article »
Article DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syx052
Project DOI: 10.7934/P2490, http://dx.doi.org/10.7934/P2490
This project contains | Matrices |
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Download Project SDD File | Total scored cells: 103 Total media associated with cells: 106 Total labels associated with cell media: 1 |
Characters | |
Total characters: 8 Total characters with associated media: 3 Total characters with media with labels: 0 Total character states: 23 Total character states with associated media: 23 Total character states with media with labels:0 Total unordered/ordered characters:8/0 |
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MorphoBank Project 2490
MorphoBank Project 2490
- Creation Date:
05 July 2016 - Publication Date:
30 May 2017 - Project views: 100186
- Matrix downloads: 11
This research
supported by
Authors' Institutions
- Ohio State University
- Oregon State University
- University of Arizona
- University of Michigan
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of Waterloo
- American Museum of Natural History
- Drexel University
- Kenx Technology Inc
- New York Botanical Garden
- St. Cloud State University
- Stony Brook University
- Whirl-i-gig
- College of William and Mary
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Members
member name | taxa | specimens | media | chars | character
| cell scorings (scored, NPA, "-") | cell
| rules | ||||||
Edward Theriot Project Administrator | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Matthew Julius Full membership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Maureen O'Leary Full membership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Anna Mengjie Yu Full membership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Taxonomic Overview for Matrix 'M24106' (13 Taxa)
taxon | unscored cells |
scored cells |
no cell support |
NPA cells |
"-" cells | cell images | labels on cell images |
member access |
[1] Cyclotella atomus atomus Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 4 |
[2] Cyclotella distinguenda Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
[3] Cyclotella atomus marina Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
[4] Cyclotella gamma Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
[5] Cyclotella choctawhatcheeana Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 |
[6] Cyclotella cryptica Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 |
[7] Cyclotella litoralis Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
[8] Cyclotella cf. meneghiniana (l1263) Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
[9] Cyclotella nana Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
[10] Cyclotella quillensis Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
[11] † Cyclotella undescribed miocene ect 765 Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
[12] Cyclotella striata Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
[13] Cyclotella stylorum Last Modified in 07/05/16 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
Project views
type | number of views | Individual items viewed (where applicable) |
Total project views | 100186 | |
Project overview | 2569 | |
Matrix views | 1445 | Matrix landing page (1181 views); Cyclotella qualitative characters (264 views); |
Media views | 80158 | Media search (3731 views); M424498 (717 views); M424509 (576 views); M424547 (398 views); M424572 (356 views); M424488 (510 views); M424487 (474 views); M424502 (490 views); M424485 (464 views); M424541 (391 views); M424520 (397 views); M424562 (424 views); M424504 (467 views); M424529 (395 views); M424531 (425 views); M424567 (398 views); M424538 (409 views); M424500 (540 views); M424482 (457 views); M424511 (538 views); M424551 (416 views); M424478 (477 views); M424568 (396 views); M424609 (270 views); M424664 (237 views); M424586 (292 views); M424690 (253 views); M424651 (252 views); M424695 (245 views); M424614 (236 views); M424688 (284 views); M424640 (236 views); M424663 (237 views); M424677 (243 views); M424685 (269 views); M424655 (233 views); M424595 (284 views); M424696 (239 views); M424699 (238 views); M424604 (286 views); M424556 (428 views); M424607 (267 views); M424686 (248 views); M424659 (241 views); M424577 (404 views); M424544 (419 views); M424493 (491 views); M424570 (398 views); M424512 (471 views); M424650 (237 views); M424674 (236 views); M424611 (268 views); M424675 (251 views); M424693 (250 views); M424658 (252 views); M424592 (268 views); M424616 (266 views); M424589 (287 views); M424700 (261 views); M424631 (241 views); M424601 (291 views); M424641 (237 views); M424638 (228 views); M424625 (256 views); M424612 (256 views); M424662 (243 views); M424584 (262 views); M424669 (227 views); M424596 (285 views); M424665 (231 views); M424642 (242 views); M424639 (226 views); M424678 (233 views); M424585 (292 views); M424646 (247 views); M424626 (263 views); M424666 (263 views); M424661 (241 views); M424579 (274 views); M424636 (248 views); M424652 (245 views); M424682 (247 views); M424599 (252 views); M424657 (235 views); M424582 (265 views); M424583 (294 views); M424672 (234 views); M424689 (247 views); M424597 (231 views); M424550 (379 views); M424491 (465 views); M424539 (389 views); M424533 (371 views); M424554 (422 views); M424517 (442 views); M424480 (479 views); M424522 (419 views); M424495 (478 views); M424507 (522 views); M424569 (359 views); M424676 (239 views); M424610 (288 views); M424492 (500 views); M424654 (240 views); M424540 (401 views); M424602 (262 views); M424647 (227 views); M424645 (222 views); M424573 (369 views); M424588 (272 views); M424593 (282 views); M424660 (262 views); M424598 (257 views); M424615 (279 views); M424701 (300 views); M424608 (267 views); M424667 (255 views); M424697 (255 views); M424648 (250 views); M424668 (228 views); M424549 (392 views); M424523 (472 views); M424687 (253 views); M424627 (242 views); M424624 (293 views); M424581 (232 views); M424643 (240 views); M424670 (247 views); M424629 (244 views); M424628 (262 views); M424578 (261 views); M424622 (303 views); M424594 (278 views); M424606 (279 views); M424694 (223 views); M424656 (255 views); M424632 (243 views); M424680 (240 views); M424580 (244 views); M424698 (257 views); M424692 (214 views); M424618 (275 views); M424635 (238 views); M424673 (243 views); M424634 (208 views); M424603 (255 views); M424630 (277 views); M424633 (275 views); M424613 (257 views); M424683 (248 views); M424681 (238 views); M424619 (273 views); M424620 (256 views); M424679 (264 views); M424591 (251 views); M424605 (258 views); M424617 (246 views); M424590 (269 views); M424621 (285 views); M424653 (233 views); M424684 (227 views); M424691 (225 views); M424587 (297 views); M424637 (277 views); M424600 (259 views); M424671 (247 views); M424649 (236 views); M424501 (446 views); M424483 (589 views); M424565 (408 views); M424490 (484 views); M424481 (481 views); M424536 (363 views); M424564 (401 views); M424548 (406 views); M424532 (393 views); M424489 (481 views); M424576 (362 views); M424534 (422 views); M424486 (465 views); M424546 (447 views); M424537 (404 views); M424513 (452 views); M424574 (436 views); M424496 (458 views); M424527 (408 views); M424508 (469 views); M424557 (401 views); M424530 (406 views); M424566 (467 views); M424571 (396 views); M424552 (430 views); M424525 (420 views); M424519 (506 views); M424515 (457 views); M424563 (400 views); M424516 (471 views); M424543 (420 views); M424506 (506 views); M424503 (459 views); M424514 (470 views); M424560 (415 views); M424542 (432 views); M424499 (457 views); M424575 (455 views); M424545 (434 views); M424559 (390 views); M424526 (419 views); M424555 (423 views); M424497 (488 views); M424702 (257 views); M424479 (494 views); M424558 (395 views); M424623 (262 views); M424521 (428 views); M424484 (477 views); M424553 (432 views); M424535 (420 views); M424518 (408 views); M424644 (230 views); M424494 (613 views); M424528 (397 views); M424505 (492 views); M424712 (10 views); M424561 (411 views); M424524 (449 views); M424510 (467 views); M424714 (9 views); M424723 (16 views); M424703 (12 views); M424706 (8 views); M424707 (8 views); M424731 (6 views); M424728 (6 views); M424711 (9 views); M424716 (6 views); M424715 (14 views); M424717 (12 views); M424733 (11 views); M424705 (12 views); M424727 (4 views); M424725 (6 views); M424722 (7 views); M424720 (12 views); M424736 (6 views); M424718 (7 views); M424726 (8 views); M424729 (9 views); M424704 (7 views); M424719 (6 views); M424730 (6 views); M424708 (9 views); M424709 (11 views); M424724 (7 views); M424713 (5 views); M424732 (13 views); M424735 (15 views); M424710 (10 views); M424721 (9 views); M424734 (3 views); |
Taxon list | 1629 | |
Specimen list | 9482 | |
Views for media list | 2941 | |
Bibliography | 898 | |
Documents list | 1064 |
Project downloads
type | number of downloads | Individual items downloaded (where applicable) |
Total downloads from project | 238 | |
Project downloads | 226 | |
Matrix downloads | 11 | Cyclotella qualitative characters (11 downloads); |
Document downloads | 1 | Supplementary Material (1 download); |