Scientists publish the mammal family tree. (Warning, pdf). Some lunatic, or lunatics, must have not slept for a couple of years. The thing is really hard to read on screen - I'm wondering if I can print it out at Kinco's (or a local equivilant) as a poster. But it is also awesome! Be sure to check out the 'You are here' at around 8:15, sandwitched between the rabbits and colugos.

The accompaning article is here.

How big of a poster do you think it would have to be to read everything legibly?
On the pdf I had to go up to 2000% to read those colored words, and I still haven't found homo-sapien yet

Edit:
Nevermind, found it... I was looking on the right when I should've been on the left.

What?
Some people actually are rats!

Well, it's 8.5x11, and I think it'd be better at 2400%... Roughly 23 feet by 18 feet.

Wow! I couldn't even fit that in my office.

That would be the awesomest dance floor in the world.

And the most horriffic puzzle ever. One million pieces, mostly white.

Naah; truly horrific would be a complete kladogram. Rent a large field...

Hmmmm... Burning Man... already built dance floor... friend with print shop... lots of polyurethane....

Mr. "has possibilities..." Jest

And you're right. WAAY Off Topic, WAAY Too quick.

I have split this discussion into POOP.

For this thread, please keep discussion to the work, not to any validity of said work.

Wow, that is COOL. I'm gonna save it.
And hope that my fiance's big printer still works. Maybe if it does, then I can just get a **** load of posterboard and print it out to pu on the side of my house.
Where's an idiogram when you need one??

That is one scientist who SERIOUSLY needs to get laid.
As a reward, I mean. I insinuate nothing about how much social life he had to give up to do this.

"He", eh? I suspect that Kate, Robin & Samantha don't fit that particular gendered pronoun. Olaf, Marcel, Ross, Richard, Rutger, John and Andy might, but, yes there were ten authors. And they didn't collect all of that data; this was an analysis of data that had been published by LOTS of other people.

The article was:
The delayed rise of present-day mammals p507
Olaf R. P. Bininda-Emonds, Marcel Cardillo, Kate E. Jones, Ross D. E. MacPhee, Robin M. D. Beck, Richard Grenyer, Samantha A. Price, Rutger A. Vos, John L. Gittleman & Andy Purvis
doi:10.1038/nature05634

Here's a link to the actual article; only those of you with subscriptions to Nature or on University computers with subscriptions will be able to read it.

Everybody should be able to read this, which is the editor's summary.

I'm going to toss in a link to essentially the same cladogram that angrysunbird put a pdf of, but this is a figure that can actually be published in a paper journal; this means that it's groups none of us know the names of, not species names, that are on the edge, but at least you can read the thing and it isn't a huge file. I don't know who can read it, but its worth a shot.

edited to add last paragraph

Olaf R. P. Bininda-Emonds is now the name of the hero in my next novel. I need to find out what the R P stands for. What an awesome name!

Thanks for the link to the article, Elfy. Its a really interesting read.

Of all the people I know called Robin, all are male.

Not enough space for the families, but, from Wikipedia...
Clade Atlantogenata
Group I: Afrotheria
Clade Afroinsectiphilia
Order Macroscelidea: elephant shrews (Africa).
Order Afrosoricida: tenrecs and golden moles (Africa)
Order Tubulidentata: aardvark (Africa south of the Sahara).
Clade Paenungulata
Order Hyracoidea: hyraxes or dassies (Africa, Arabia).
Order Proboscidea: elephants (Africa, Southeast Asia).
Order Sirenia: dugong and manatees (cosmopolitan tropical)


Group II: Xenarthra
Order Pilosa: sloths and anteaters (Neotropical)
Order Cingulata: armadillos (Americas)


Clade Boreoeutheria
Group III: Euarchontoglires (Supraprimates)
Superorder Euarchonta
Order Scandentia: treeshrews (Southeast Asia).
Order Dermoptera: flying lemurs or colugos (Southeast Asia).
Order Primates: lemurs, bushbabies, monkeys, apes (cosmopolitan).
Superorder Glires
Order Lagomorpha: pikas, rabbits, hares (Eurasia, Africa, Americas).
Order Rodentia: rodents (cosmopolitan)

Group IV: Laurasiatheria
Order Erinaceomorpha: hedgehogs
Order Soricomorpha: moles, shrews, solenodons
Order Chiroptera: bats (cosmopolitan)
Order Cetartiodactyla: cosmopolitan; includes former orders Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates, including pigs, hippopotamus, camels, giraffe, deer, antelope, cattle, sheep, goats).
Order Perissodactyla: odd-toed ungulates, including horses, donkeys, zebras, tapirs, and rhinoceroses.
Clade Ferae
Order Pholidota: pangolins or scaly anteaters (Africa, South Asia).
Order Carnivora: carnivores (cosmopolitan)

+

Subclass/Order Prototheria: egg-laying mammals
Order Monotremata: echidnas and platypus
Subclass Marsupialia: marsupials
Order Didelphimorphia: New World opossums
Order Paucituberculata: shrew opossums
Order Microbiotheria: Monito del Monte
Order Notoryctemorphia: marsupial mole
Order Dasyuromorphia: marsupial carnivores
Order Peramelemorphia: bandicoots and bilbies
Order Diprotodontia: koalas, wombats, kangaroos, possums, etc.

basically we're between the tree shrews and the flying lemurs of SE Asia. And near the rabbits and rats!