1. Tree of Life Introduction The Tree of Life (ToL) Web Project (http://www.tolweb.org/tree/) is an online collaborative effort to provide information about organisms such as evolutionary history (phylogeny), behavior, and characteristics From their website: “The Tree of Life Web Project is an online database that compiles information about biodiversity and the evolutionary relationships of all organisms” Source: http://www.tolweb.org/tree/home.pages/abouttol.html

2. Goals of the Tree of Life The Tree of Life website offers some 9000 pages pertaining to data about organisms on Earth, such as evolutionary history and characteristics The stated goals of the Tree of Life Web Project are: –To store and present information on every species and significant group, both living and extinct –To connect this data into a single, all-encompassing evolutionary tree –To aid learning about and appreciation of biological diversity –To share data with other biological databases and tools

3. Structure of ToL The structural backbone of the ToL project consists of leaf and branch pages Each of these pages provides a synopsis of the most important characteristics of a particular group of organisms TOL leaf and branch pages are categorized according to five page status levels based on their completeness and review status

4. Leaf and Branch Pages Leaf pages are ToL pages about the terminal groups i.e. the tips of the tree of life ToL leaf pages are most often pages about individual species Branch pages are ToL pages about a group of related species, a genus, or a family of related species organisms that can be divided into subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages The root page is a type of branch page that consists of general information that applies to all life on Earth Source: http://www.tolweb.org/tree/home.pages/structure.html

5. Exploring the Tree of Life The tree diagram or taxon list ToL branch page is linked to the trees/lists of the pages for related groups All the ToL pages taken together present current idea about the structure of the entire evolutionary tree of living things Following the links up and down the tree, we can explore the lineage and characteristics of numerous organisms Source: http:// www.tolweb.org/tree