BACKGROUND: Recently, various evolution-related journals adopted policies to encourage or require archiving of phylogenetic trees and associated data. Such attention to practices that promote data sharing reflects rapidly improving information technology, and rapidly expanding potential to use this technology to aggregate and link data from previously published research. Nevertheless, little is known about current practices, or best practices, for publishing phylogenetic trees and associated data in a way that promotes re-use. RESULTS: Here we summarize...

Background: Historically the babblers have been assigned to the family Timaliidae but several recent studies have attempted to rest the taxonomy of this diverse passerine assemblage on a more firm evolutionary footing. The result has been a major rearrangement of the group. A well-supported and comprehensive phylogeny for this widespread avian group is an important part of testing evolutionary and biogeographic hypotheses, especially in Asia where the babblers are a key component of many forest...