Morphing Arachnids Using Phylogenies for Time Travel

Each feature of the living species at the tips of a phylogenetic tree can be mapped onto the tree to determine where evolutionary changes likely occurred. Then, at each branching point (or internal node), the features can be blended together to form am overall picture of what the ancestral species may have looked like.

In this video from the Peabody Museums Travels in the Great Tree of Life exhibit, the left hand side of the animation shows a phylogenetic tree of selected arachnids (spiders, scorpions, and their relatives); on the right hand side you can see an animation that shows what the ancestral species may have looked like at different points in the tree.

Travels in the Great Tree of Life" was produced for the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History with the support from the U.S. National Science Foundation through the CIPRes and Angiosperm Tree of Life Programs.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• life
• forms
• humans
• animals
• bugs
• organisms
• ancestry
• evolution
• fossils
• origin
• of
• species
• Charles
• Darwin
• Tree
• Life
• great
• tree
• phylogeny
• genetics
• DNA
• biology
• mathematics
• computer
• technology
• arachnids
• Arachnida
• arthropods
• science

[yalepeabodymuseum]

The animation was produced by museum staff with a multi-media consultant and is based on scientific research going on in several institutions. Glad you liked it!

[yalepeabodymuseum]

The groups featured on the animation are Horseshoe crabs, sea scorpions, scorpions, pseudoscorpions, wind scorpions, mites and ticks, spiders, tailess whip scorpions and whip scorpions.

[lifeprojectcollab]

I'm a co-founder of a group that makes work about the tree of life. Can I please has the contact details for the person that made this. my email is benbeeton@live.com.au

[helouadri]

Can you tell me the names of the 9 groups that appear there? thank you!

[TheConcolor]

Man, I would have problems eating arachnids

[MultiPaulinator]

can you do this with other phylogenies?

[razorbladekissss]

whoaaaa

[vzdragon]

This was pretty sweet but i still belive that god created the world and the animals and every thing that lives on this world and in the galaxy.

[kjlg74]

This is great!