What is phylogeny and why is phylogeny important to the Tree of Life?
Many sites provide information on organisms, but one thing that sets the ToL apart is its emphasis on phylogeny, or the study of the evolutionary history of organisms. Every page and media file on the ToL about organisms is attached to a space in the ToL database for a particular group of organisms. This allows the ToL to connect pages together according to the genentic connections between the Earth’s organisms. The ToL illustrates that organisms living today are like the leaves of a tree. If you were to trace these leaves back to their branches, you would see common ancestors of living species where the branches fork, and eventually you could track back to the beginning of all life on earth. The Tree of Life uses the the internet to depict the complexity of the Tree of Life from the root to its branches and leaves, on web pages linked together by their phylogenetic relationships. Use the links below to learn more about phylogeny and to browse ToL leaf and branch pages in a manner that
