Tree of Life Web Project

Did you see the wonderful article in the New York Times this week about the echidna? Did you want to take one home? Me too.

In case you are interested in learning more about monotremes, or any other living creature, the Tree of Life Web Project can provide an overview, pictures and a bibliography of additional resources about the animal/plant/fungus/algae/slime mold/bacteria of interest.

The Tree of Life Project is an NIH-funded "collection of information about biodiversity compiled collaboratively by hundreds of expert and amateur contributors. Its goal is to contain a page with pictures, text, and other information for every species and for each group of organisms, living or extinct. Connections between Tree of Life web pages follow phylogenetic branching patterns between groups of organisms, so visitors can browse the hierarchy of life and learn about phylogeny and evolution as well as the characteristics of individual groups."

Additional teaching resources for students and teachers are available in the learning section of the site, including ways individuals and classrooms can contribute to the Tree of Life Project.

Another major resource documenting information about life on earth is the Encyclopedia of Life. While the Encyclopedia is a separate resource, the Tree of Life and Encyclopedia share resources, software tools, and coordinate their efforts to avoid content duplication. Tree of Life focuses more of phylogenetic relationships between species, while the Encyclopedia focuses on pages about individual species.