But this is not the case. After 3.8 billion years of evolution, the tree of life has branched again and again, with some branches dying out and others with living descendants out at the branch tips.

A phylogenetic tree, also known as a phylogeny, is a diagram that depicts the lines of evolutionary descent of different species, organisms, or genes from a common ancestor.

Here, the typographic tree is one branch of a tree diagram, reaching from medieval drawings to Shneiderman’s treemaps. Lima has skilfully organised his book to reveal these developments.

Leonardo da Vinci observed that tree limbs preserve their thickness as they branch. The Italian Renaissance artist used a parameter called α to determine the relationships between the diameters ...

Scientists have discovered a completely new branch on the tree of life. This “supergroup” contains an incredibly diverse range of predatory microbes that are extremely different genetically ...

Credit: Jen Christiansen; Sources: “Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds,” by Erich D. Jarvis et al., in Science, Vol. 346; December 12, 2014 (left ...