Palaeontologists and taxonomists are thinking big. In 50 years we should have a good picture of the tree of life – including all living and extinct species. At the moment, we are tussling over the large-scale aspects of the tree: what are the closest relatives of dinosaurs, trilobites or ginkgos; where do slime moulds fit in the scheme of things? Once such questions have been answered then the finer twigs can be mapped.
At the same time as the tree is being built, the main branching points are being dated. This is controversial too, but our methods are improving and should…
