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Phylogenetically Structured Queries

The node-based information architecture of the Tree of Life Web Project supports phylogenetically structured queries. Such queries will be executed by harvesting objects from specific branches in the Tree of Life.

For example you could query for all the images within a given group of beetles. The system would then identify the ancestral node for this particular group, and it would retrieve all the images that are attached to nodes in that particular piece of the tree. Of course, individual subgroups could be excluded from the set by defining the basal nodes of the branches to be withheld.

Any node in the tree can function as a criterion in such queries, so this system provides great granularity for the meaningful grouping of objects within in the database.

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