Tree of Life Demo
This demo shows an interactive radial dendrogram visualization for the so-called
Tree of Life.
In biology, this is a tree structure used to describe the relationships (i.e., ancestors
and descendants) between known extant and extinct species, ranging from the first
organisms on Earth to the most complex creatures.
The dataset in this demo is not complete, and demonstrates only a portion of the over 2.3
million species that have lived on Earth.
For better interaction and rendering performance, WebGL is used for the rendering of the
graph elements, if this is supported by the browser. Otherwise, the graph elements are
rendered using SVG elements.
Things to try
-
Clicking on a node/species reveals the simpler phylogenetic tree with all the
descendants of the selected species. Clicking again on the same node shows also its
ancestors. Navigate also to the previous 10 ancestors using the breadcrumb menu in the
toolbar.
-
Hovering over a node or an edge of a sub-tree highlights its containing species and the
relations among them.
- Use the combo-box to show the phylogenetic tree of the selected species.
- Toggle the Show Extinct button to show/hide the extincted species.
-
Use the search box to look for a specific species. The matched species will be
highlighted.