Project 950: 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/P950, http://dx.doi.org/10.7934/P950
This project contains | Matrices |
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Download Project SDD File ![]() | Total scored cells: 108 Total media associated with cells: 120 Total labels associated with cell media: 16 |
Characters | |
Total characters: 9 Total characters with associated media: 9 Total characters with media with labels: 0 Total character states: 19 Total character states with associated media: 19 Total character states with media with labels:1 Total unordered/ordered characters:9/0 |
Currently Viewing:
MorphoBank Project 950
MorphoBank Project 950
- Creation Date:
11 May 2013 - Publication Date:
30 May 2017 - Project views: 107041
- Media downloads: 2
- Matrix downloads: 25
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 ![]() | ||||||
Marymegan Daly Project Administrator | 11 | 9 | 136 | 6 | 23 | 1 | 108 (102, 4, 2) | 109 | 15 | 2 | ||||
Jed Irvine Full membership ![]() | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
Michael Lam Full membership ![]() | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Maureen O'Leary Full membership ![]() | 13 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Abigail Reft Full membership ![]() | 5 | 20 | 189 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
Taxonomic Overview for Matrix 'M2125' (12 Taxa)
taxon | unscored cells |
scored cells ![]() |
no cell support ![]() |
NPA cells |
"-" cells | cell images | labels on cell images |
member access |
[1] Asterias asteriformis Last Modified in 07/11/14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 5 ![]() |
[2] Anemonia sulcata acanthoneme Last Modified in 06/13/14 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 5 ![]() |
[3] Aiptasia sp. Last Modified in 07/10/14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 5 ![]() |
[4] Cereus pedunculatus Last Modified in 07/11/14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 5 ![]() |
[5] Diadumene leucolena Last Modified in 07/11/14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 5 ![]() |
[6] Haliplanella lineata pb2d Last Modified in 06/11/14 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 5 ![]() |
[7] Urticina felina Last Modified in 07/11/14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 5 ![]() |
[8] Metridium senile pb1 Last Modified in 06/13/14 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 5 ![]() |
[9] Palythoa sp Last Modified in 07/10/14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 5 ![]() |
[10] Rhodactis sp. Last Modified in 07/11/14 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 5 ![]() |
[11] Stomphia sp. Last Modified in 07/10/14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 5 ![]() |
[12] Actinostola sp. Last Modified in 07/11/14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 5 ![]() |
Project views 
type | number of views | Individual items viewed (where applicable) |
Total project views | 107041 | |
Project overview | 2409 | |
Media views | 73721 | Media search (3586 views); M286400 (486 views); M286426 (439 views); M286404 (456 views); M286437 (379 views); M286457 (412 views); M286385 (464 views); M286439 (381 views); M286417 (438 views); M286393 (441 views); M286427 (372 views); M286444 (380 views); M286389 (466 views); M286473 (393 views); M286401 (484 views); M286448 (399 views); M286425 (423 views); M286395 (483 views); M286432 (402 views); M286469 (370 views); M286454 (393 views); M286410 (489 views); M286409 (449 views); M286429 (379 views); M286438 (381 views); M286411 (444 views); M286408 (487 views); M286452 (363 views); M286386 (462 views); M286466 (406 views); M286461 (401 views); M286380 (445 views); M286424 (377 views); M286388 (499 views); M286446 (394 views); M286447 (377 views); M286453 (377 views); M286450 (454 views); M286433 (401 views); M286478 (368 views); M286384 (475 views); M286451 (409 views); M286470 (387 views); M286459 (431 views); M286467 (382 views); M286394 (502 views); M286455 (388 views); M286406 (459 views); M286413 (498 views); M286407 (478 views); M286434 (396 views); M286392 (478 views); M286435 (402 views); M286445 (369 views); M286382 (472 views); M286415 (453 views); M286398 (450 views); M286421 (406 views); M286399 (451 views); M286416 (456 views); M286468 (399 views); M286390 (490 views); M286418 (479 views); M286397 (461 views); M286476 (367 views); M286477 (358 views); M286458 (400 views); M286412 (443 views); M286460 (362 views); M286441 (374 views); M286414 (449 views); M286403 (452 views); M286474 (392 views); M286471 (379 views); M286465 (385 views); M286428 (398 views); M286379 (725 views); M286431 (394 views); M286430 (394 views); M286472 (377 views); M286456 (392 views); M286391 (479 views); M286405 (471 views); M286463 (425 views); M286396 (471 views); M286422 (460 views); M286387 (454 views); M286420 (409 views); M286423 (408 views); M286381 (461 views); M286475 (390 views); M286402 (477 views); M286443 (381 views); M286383 (471 views); M286491 (217 views); M286563 (238 views); M286543 (232 views); M307855 (246 views); M286515 (218 views); M286449 (395 views); M286517 (212 views); M286419 (426 views); M286504 (213 views); M286542 (207 views); M286510 (236 views); M286555 (222 views); M286496 (217 views); M307854 (212 views); M307866 (193 views); M307873 (186 views); M286557 (226 views); M286485 (203 views); M286512 (217 views); M286464 (383 views); M286462 (382 views); M286436 (372 views); M286442 (399 views); M286440 (415 views); M307875 (225 views); M307816 (232 views); M307861 (213 views); M286495 (223 views); M286553 (214 views); M286558 (214 views); M286539 (249 views); M286509 (219 views); M286556 (220 views); M307858 (214 views); M307862 (217 views); M307868 (185 views); M286490 (218 views); M307871 (198 views); M286544 (232 views); M286494 (221 views); M286588 (223 views); M286540 (230 views); M286551 (211 views); M286519 (216 views); M286549 (230 views); M286493 (203 views); M286565 (228 views); M286566 (223 views); M286537 (217 views); M307867 (212 views); M286562 (216 views); M286507 (226 views); M307813 (237 views); M307817 (231 views); M307851 (228 views); M286568 (213 views); M286506 (221 views); M286529 (231 views); M286554 (211 views); M286513 (223 views); M286559 (239 views); M286502 (208 views); M286505 (229 views); M307774 (327 views); M286518 (229 views); M286486 (242 views); M286533 (219 views); M286514 (236 views); M286520 (234 views); M307857 (221 views); M286564 (231 views); M286541 (221 views); M286536 (230 views); M286488 (207 views); M286516 (282 views); M307864 (226 views); M286560 (219 views); M286482 (224 views); M286497 (205 views); M286522 (202 views); M286548 (221 views); M286527 (228 views); M286528 (231 views); M286550 (206 views); M307870 (209 views); M307874 (195 views); M307865 (219 views); M307859 (197 views); M286498 (207 views); M286567 (217 views); M286561 (274 views); M286508 (212 views); M286530 (219 views); M287171 (273 views); M286538 (223 views); M286501 (212 views); M286489 (235 views); M286500 (211 views); M307860 (222 views); M286547 (219 views); M286481 (203 views); M286503 (215 views); M286524 (218 views); M307815 (223 views); M286499 (235 views); M307869 (201 views); M286535 (225 views); M307863 (224 views); M286531 (212 views); M286479 (219 views); M307818 (228 views); M286492 (229 views); M286484 (206 views); M307872 (193 views); M286483 (198 views); M286525 (216 views); M307853 (224 views); M286552 (229 views); M307856 (207 views); M307852 (219 views); M287172 (220 views); M286480 (204 views); M286523 (226 views); M286587 (206 views); M286534 (207 views); M286532 (215 views); M286487 (225 views); M286521 (215 views); M286526 (205 views); M286511 (204 views); M286546 (223 views); M286545 (218 views); M333754 (1 view); M333761 (1 view); M324019 (1 view); M333769 (1 view); M333736 (1 view); M324015 (1 view); M333744 (1 view); M333779 (1 view); |
Matrix views | 1362 | Matrix landing page (1088 views); Nematocyst matrix (274 views); |
Documents list | 1038 | |
Bibliography | 773 | |
Views for media list | 3797 | |
Taxon list | 7868 | |
Specimen list | 16073 |
Project downloads 
type | number of downloads | Individual items downloaded (where applicable) |
Total downloads from project | 214 | |
Project downloads | 186 | |
Matrix downloads | 25 | Nematocyst matrix (25 downloads); |
Document downloads | 1 | Supplementary Material (1 download); |
Media downloads | 2 | M286379 (1 download); M287172 (1 download); |