READ: Macro Evolution
9. Evolutionary Trees
Evolutionary Trees
Charles Darwin came up with the idea of an evolutionary tree to represent the relationships between different species and their common ancestors. The base of the tree represents the ancient ancestors of all life. The separation into large branches shows where these original species evolved into increasingly different populations that would not come back together again. The branches keep splitting into smaller and smaller branches as species continue to evolve into more and more species. Some species are represented by short twigs spurting out of the tree, then stopping. These are species that went extinct before evolving into new species. Other “Trees of Life” have been created by other scientists.
Darwin drew this version of the Evolutionary Tree
Scientists have drawn many different versions of the Evolutionary Tree
CK-12 Foundation, Biology. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/