An illustrated tree of life
Every living thing is family.
A mushroom, an octopus and you all share one ancestor. Explore 114 branches of life, from bacteria to blue whales, and find out how closely anything is related to anything else.
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- Species
- 58
- Branches
- 56
- Years of history
- 4.2 bn
The tree
Life's first ancestor sits in the middle. Every line out from it is a family splitting in two.
Hover a name to trace its line back to the start of life. Click to open its page.Tap a name to trace its line, then tap Open. Pick a branch above, or pinch, to zoom.
Browse every branch as a list
How related are we?
Try
Human and Common octopus last shared an ancestor about 580 million years ago.
Two-sided animalsStarfish, sea squirts and usChordatesVertebratesJawed vertebratesBony fish and their descendantsLobe-finned fishFour-limbed animalsAmniotesMammalsLive-bearing mammalsPlacental mammalsPrimates, rodents and rabbitsPrimatesGreat apesHumans and chimpanzeesHumanMouth-first animalsMolluscs, worms and kinMolluscsCommon octopus
That ancestor started the branch called Two-sided animals. If life's whole history were squeezed into one year, they went their separate ways on 11 November.
11 NovemberLife begins · 1 JanuaryToday · 31 December
Meet some relatives
Meet a random one- Common octopusThree hearts, blue blood, and arms that taste and think for themselves.
- PlatypusA mammal that lays eggs, senses electricity with its bill and glows under UV light.
- Many-headed slime mouldA brainless yellow blob that can solve mazes and map efficient train networks.
- Blue whaleThe largest animal that has ever lived, fed almost entirely on tiny krill.
- Fly agaricThe red-and-white fairytale toadstool; poisonous, and partnered underground with birch and pine roots.
- Water bearsEight-legged micro-animals that survive freezing, boiling, drying out and even open space.