Google Earth for The Tree of Life

There are perhaps ten million species on Earth, joined together by common ancestry. But even 3000 species are practically impossible to represent on a single evolutionary tree. So how shall we ever see the tree of life (especially if it’s also a web in parts)? That’s the subject of my latest article in tomorrow’s New York Times, “Crunching Data for the Tree of Life.” It’s one of a set of stories the Times is publishing in observation of Darwin’s birthday. Check them all out.

(Image: Hillis lab)