What is the tree of life?
The tree of life shows how all life on earth is related. Each leaf represents a different species. The branches show how these many species evolved from common ancestors over billions of years. In our interactive tree of life you can explore the relationships between 2,235,362 species and wonder at 105,279 images on a single zoomable page.
- 2,235,362 species
- 105,279 images
Popular places to start exploring...
What they say...
-
Magnificent piece of software, brilliantly intuitive visualisation of the tree of life
-
This project has enormous potential both as a tool for increasing public knowledge and engagement but also as an aid to research in Conservation and Biodiversity.
-
OneZoom is probably my favorite website of all time.
-
This will revolutionize how we teach and understand the Tree of Life. It is an invaluable tool for communicating the grand scope of life's history.
-
I often use OneZoom in my class, the students love it.
-
Genius visualisation project mapping the entire tree of life into a single explorable diagram.
-
OneZoom is one of the most fascinating visualization projects I've seen in years!
-
I have been telling people about how incredible OneZoom is all week!
-
…simply the most useful tool for understanding phylogenetic and evolutionary relationships.
-
I wanted to congratulate the OneZoom team on the amazing interface and reference resource that is OneZoom. Amazing job!
Become a sponsor...
OneZoom is a registered non-profit in the UK, all our products are for free. 443 people like you have helped us by making donations. Their names appear as sponsors on 741 leaves of our tree of life.
Only one name per leaf so get your favourite while you can, for yourself or as a gift.
-
Mystery snail
(Pomacea bridgesii)Sponsored byTaylor Catlin — Georgia, USA -
Rowan
(Sorbus aucuparia)Sponsored byKate Cabot -
Knobby brain coral
(Pseudodiploria clivosa)Sponsored forSally Nall -
Belladonna lily
(Amaryllis belladonna)Sponsored forBenjamin Franklin Wimberly — 1949-2017. Biloxi, MS. -
Cavy
(Cavia porcellus)Sponsored forWillow and Parsley -
Epidemic cholera
(Vibrio cholerae RC9)Sponsored forBom Bilgers -
Willow emerald damselfly
(Chalcolestes viridis)Sponsored forJared Starbell -
Marsh thistle
(Cirsium palustre)Sponsored forGrant Robertson -
Mimosa verrucosaSponsored forSusan Robertson
-
Harbour seal
(Phoca vitulina)Sponsored forLynn Haughton — Happy Christmas 2020 Lynn :) -
European honeysuckle
(Lonicera periclymenum)Sponsored forClarice Haughton -
Tetragonula carbonariaSponsored bySebastian Machuca — Sydney, AU
-
Anthrax bacterium
(Bacillus anthracis str. Ames Ancestor)Sponsored forMalcolm Bolton -
Sacred datura
(Datura wrightii)Sponsored byJake Turin — Villanueva, NM, USA -
Oval dry rock moss
(Grimmia ovalis)Sponsored byDaniel Lindbom -
Penicillium roquefortiSponsored forKenn Allan (Glenbrook, NSW) — Happy Birthday Dad!
-
Neomarica gracilisSponsored byLuka M. — Erskineville, AUD
-
Joshua tree
(Yucca brevifolia)Sponsored forJoshua Werber — With love from Ori -
Great horsetail
(Equisetum telmateia)Sponsored forPaul D. Neuwald — from your daughter -
Short-finned mako
(Isurus oxyrinchus)Sponsored byThe Mako Family — Ohio & North Carolina, USA
What we've been up to...
-
16 October 2020
OneZoom version 3.4.1 released with new public APIs providing information on the popularity of species and representative images for groups of species as well as other tools intentended for use by researchers and other science communication projects.
-
15 October 2020
A new publication, Dynamic visualisation of million-tip trees: the OneZoom project, is now live on BioRxiv describing a lot of the research that's gone on behind the scenes over the last five years to make OneZoom a reality.
-
30 April 2020
Thank you to the first people who supported us with sponsorship four years ago. Your sponsored leaves would normally be up for renewal right now. We've decided to extend your sponsorships for free so you don't have to worry about it at this difficult time during a global pandemic. We will write to all our sponsors giving plenty of notice when it's time to renew.
-
28 September 2019
A new OneZoom museum exhibit is launched as part of Darwin and Dinosaurs at the Museum of Idaho. This coincides with the launch of OneZoom version 3.3.1 which features many enhancements to the musuem display code.Image used with kind permission from Darwin and Dinosaurs