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Throughout the late 19th century there were many attempts to portray evolutionary
relationships with tree-like diagrams. These were based on overall appearances shared
similarities in the form and structure of organisms.
However, it was not until the middle of the 20th century, especially through the work of the
German entomologist Willi Hennig in the mid-1960s that the analytical methods used by
scientists today to study phylogenetic relationships began to be developed and modern
research on the Tree of Life began.
This basic logic, together with extraordinary advances in computer science and molecular
biology, prepared the way for the reconstruction of the entire Tree of Life. Owing to an
exponential rise in phylogenetic research around the globe, we can now discern the branching
pattern of the entire Tree. This mega-science effort has revolutionized our understanding of our
own place in nature, and the resulting knowledge has already been put to an amazing variety
of scientific and practical uses.
What is a Phylogenetic Relationship?
Phylogenetic relationship refers to the relative times in the past that species shared common
ancestors. Two species (B & C) are more closely related to one another than either one is to a
third species (A) if, and only if, they share a more recent common ancestor with one another
(at Time 2) than they do with the third species (at Time 1).
The model below shows that crocodiles and birds (the owl) are more closely related to one
another than either is to mammals (the Gorilla). Why? Because scientists have inferred that the
crocodiles and birds share a more recent common ancestor! Notice that no matter how you
swivel the branches of this tree, the same relationships hold:
The information about relationships is not in where the species sit relative to one another at
the tips of the branches; we dont read trees across the top from left to right. Instead, we read
trees downward from the tips, moving backward in time, or upward from the bottom, moving
forward in time.
Starting from the bird, for instance, we can move back in time and ask whether the bird branch
connects first to the crocodile branch or to the mammal branch. Starting from the bottom, we
can ask which branching event occurred first, and which occurred later. The entire Tree of Life
is made of small trees like this one.
Some relationships seem obvious: a cow and a sheep are more closely related than either one
is to a sunflower. Others are not nearly so obvious. Is a mushroom closer to a human or to a
water lily? Surprisingly, mushrooms are closer to us than they are to plants.
Organisms that look very different can be quite closely related, while very similar organisms,
might be very distantly related. Remember, phylogenetic relationship refers not to the
similarities and differences among organisms, but to the relative times that they shared
common ancestors in the past.
We can make such inferences one at a time (character by character), or we can consider entire
suites of characteristics, which provide us with a unique perspective on the evolution of a
lineage through time.
Ancestral Arachnids
Some animation techniques of ancestral character state reconstruction is used to infer the
evolution of the shape, size and number of body parts of the arachnids (the branch of the Tree
of Life that includes spiders, scorpions, mites and ticks) and their relatives such as the
horseshoe crabs. To see how their different body forms evolved, we can trace up the branches
from an ancestor at the base to any tip of the tree and watch the evolutionary changes that are
reconstructed along the way.
Notice that the ancestor of two descendants seldom looks like either descendant, because
change usually happens along both paths. In fact, phylogenetic trees show that it is misguided
to say, for example, that humans evolved from chimps; rather, both humans and chimpanzees
evolved from a common ancestor that differed from both.
The common ancestor of all arachnids probably resembled the now extinct eurypterids or sea
scorpions, fearsome aquatic predators that lived some 250 to 500 million years ago.
While arachnids share basic body parts, these have diverged in fascinating ways.
The chelicerae in spiders, for example, are fangs that evolved the ability to inject venom; in
pseudo scorpions they evolved to produce silk; and in solpugids they became massive jaws that
rip apart prey.
In scorpions, the rear of the abdomen evolved
into a poisonous stinger; in spiders, into a silk-
producing organ for making webs; and in whip
scorpions, a feeler for targeting a cannon that
fires nasty chemicals at its enemies.
Also known as uropygids or vinegaroons, whip scorpions dig burrows in the moist soil of
tropical and subtropical areas in the New World and Asia. Whip scorpions have no venom, but
when disturbed spray a noxious chemical that smells like vinegar. They leave their burrows at
night to feed on insects, spiders, and other invertebrates. The giant whip scorpion
(Mastigoproctus giganteus) is one of the largest species, and is found in southwestern North
America.
Flat Rock Scorpion
The flat rock scorpion (Hadogenes troglodytes) comes from dry, rocky habitats in South Africa.
Like other scorpions, its stinger is venomous, but this species relies more on its powerful
pincers for hunting and defense. The bodies of these scorpions are adapted to fit in narrow
rocky crevices, where they capture and eat snails and other invertebrates.
Extreme Divergence!
Would you guess that the tiny Ruby-throated
Hummingbird (Archilocus colubris) and the
giant tyrannosaur Albertosaurus libratus are
related? Sometimes organisms that look
radically different turn out to be closely
related. Such extreme divergence can evolve
quite naturally, especially when lineages
move into new environments.
Albertosaurus was a fierce carnivore; a hummingbird may be no less fierce, but its diminutive
size and taste for nectar are unusual for a dinosaur. Albertosaurus probably sported feathers,
just like living birds. Birds, it turns out, are just a highly divergent branch in the dinosaur tree,
the rest having disappeared long ago. Birds are the dinosaurs that took to the air, dodged the
great extinction 65 million years ago and, with some 10,000 species alive today, have been so
successful ever since.
A Case of Extreme Divergence in Plants
The water lotus (Nelumbo) was long thought to be closely related to the water lilies
(Nymphaeaceae). Surprisingly, the water lotus turns out to be closely related to the sycamore
tree (Platanus). This idea was first suggested on the basis of pollen structure, but has now been
strongly supported by DNA sequences.
The case of the water lotus illustrates both extreme divergence (water lotus relative to the
sycamore) and convergent evolution (water lotus relative to the water lily). The water lotus
lineage has undergone extreme evolution of its form in adapting to life in calm, freshwater
habitats, and has converged to look like a water lily.
Compare the torpedo-shaped body of a fish with the body of a swimming mammal, like a
dolphin or a whale. The first mammals were terrestrial and walked on four limbs. As the
ancestors of the cetaceans adapted to swimming, their limbs were reduced and their body shape
converged on the typical fish shape.
Sometimes convergent evolution modified different body parts to look the same and perform
the same function: insect wings were derived from the exoskeleton, while bird wings were
derived from forelimbs with an internal skeleton. In other cases, modification of the same basic
part occurred independently in separate lineages: the wings of both birds and bats are modified
forelimbs, though modified in quite different ways.
The Tree of Life contains many remarkable examples of convergent evolution, which attest to
the great power of natural selection to adapt different organisms to similar environments. Such
cases are discovered as we study how species are related finding that similar organisms are
actually distantly related and must have evolved their similar traits independently. Sometimes
convergent similarities are so striking that they have fooled biologists for decades before being
revealed through careful phylogenetic research.
Convergent Insect Eaters: Pitcher Plants
Now there is compelling evidence that they are quite separate the pitcher plants of the New
World (Sarraceniaceae) are closer to blueberries and kiwi fruits, while those of the Old World
(Nepenthaceae) are related to other insectivores (the Venus fly-trap and the sundews), and in
turn to knotweeds and carnations.
A Succulent Convergence
Thick succulent stems, adapted to conserve water, evolved independently in several lineages
of desert flowering plants.
Both the familiar Latin American cacti and the African euphorbias lost their leaves and
transferred photosynthesis to their enlarged stems, whose specialized anatomy provides water
storage and support.
Although their stems are similar, their flowers (and fruits) are very different from one another.
Cacti (Cactaceae) belong within a major branch of flowering plants that includes carnations
and ice-plants, while the euphorbs (Euphorbiaceae) are members of a very distantly related
branch that includes violets and willows.
Leaf-bearing relatives of the stem-succulent forms have now been identified. Pereskia, with its
large leaves, is actually a cactus! And, Crown-of-Thorns is a euphorb.
Big Surprises in the Tree of Life
We have also discovered that fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants, and that
within the animals the segmented worms (annelids) are more closely related to the
unsegmented mollusks (snails, clams and squids) than they are to segmented arthropods
(spiders, lobsters, millipedes and insects).
Major new discoveries are being made even in the best-known organisms, including mammals
and flowering plants. In this exhibit we feature two totally unexpected results, both showing
that really big organisms can be very closely related to really small ones the Afrotheria
lineage within mammals, connecting elephant shrews with elephants, and the story of Rafflesia,
the plants that produce the worlds largest flowers.
Elephant shrews eat beetles, termites, spiders and ants, and supplement their diet with fruits
and seeds. In captivity they are fed crickets, mealworms and dry cat food supplemented with
peanut oil.
Individuals of the four species of giant elephant shrew weigh in at about one pound (540
grams), while those of the other species are much smaller the short-eared elephant shrew
weighs less than two ounces (about 35 grams). Elephant shrews get their common name from
their long, mobile trunk-like nose, with which they explore the world. Biologists also refer to
these animals by their African Bantu name, sengis.
Elephant shrews are found throughout the forests, savannas, scrublands and deserts of southern
Africa and parts of North Africa. The Black and Rufous Giant Elephant Shrew lives only in
forests and dense woodlands of eastern Kenya and Tanzania, habitat that is rapidly
disappearing because of human activity. As a result, this extraordinary animal is at high risk of
extinction in the wild.
Afrotheria: Unexpected Relatives!
These animals are all members of the same mammal lineage, the Afrotheria. With about 80
extremely varied species, this group includes such unlikely companions as the tiny elephant
shrews and the worlds largest land mammal, the elephants. However, in-depth DNA analyses
show that these animals are all of the descendants of a single common ancestor. So, even though
the golden mole looks very much like a mole, and has a similar subterranean lifestyle, it is more
closely related to the aardvark! While scientists agree that the Afrotheria evolved in Africa
(unlike some African mammals, such as lions and zebras, which originated elsewhere), there
is debate as to exactly when. Some evidence suggests that it was as far back as 100 million
years ago in the Cretaceous Period, while other studies indicate that it may have been around
the time that the non-avian dinosaurs became extinct, some 65 million years ago.
Phylogenetic relationships among the different animals that make up the Afrotheria have been
vigorously debated, and are currently the subject of a major international research effort. Here
we present a current hypothesis that is being tested using additional molecular and
morphological evidence:
Floral Giants From Humble Beginnings
A fly enters the chamber of a male flower and is guided to the anthers, where a sticky mass of
pollen is deposited on its back for transport to a female flower.
Successful pollination is rare, however, because Rafflesia populations are few and far between.
The flowers open only rarely and then only for about five days.
The flowers offer no reward to the flies, who are fooled into looking for food or a place to lay
eggs. The distinctive projections on top of the disk in the center of the flower may help to
radiate heat and spread the carrion odor.
Rafflesia and its Relatives
There are 13 species of Rafflesia living in southeast Asia. These differ in size, coloration, and
the number of various flower parts.
The closest relatives of Rafflesia are Rhizanthes and Sapria, each with two species. These are
also Asian parasitic plants with smaller but equally bizarre flowers.
The magnificent flowers of Rafflesia arnoldii have become a symbol of Borneo. Tragically,
Rafflesia and its relatives are now all threatened with extinction from destruction of their
rainforest habitats. It has not been possible to cultivate them.
A Monumental Scientific Challenge
Some 100,000 species have been included in formal phylogenetic analyses so far, between 5%
and 10% of the known living species, but perhaps only 1% of the real total, and a fraction of a
percent of the species that have ever existed. However, even if not formally analyzed, virtually
all known species can now be assigned provisionally a place in the Tree.
This tree contains 3,000 species representing the lineages of some 30,000 flowering plants:
Shown below are 100 trees, each with 3,000 species (see above), to represent
a total of 300,000 species:
Computational Complexity
One key issue in reconstructing the Tree of Life is the development of algorithms and
computational infrastructure to allow scientists around the world to apply the same methods.
But finding the simplest or the most likely hypothesis can be very challenging. As phylogenetic
datasets grow larger, it becomes more difficult to analyze them properly. With more and more
species under study, the number of alternative phylogenetic hypotheses that must be considered
to select the best tree increases dramatically.
For example, for 3 species there are just 3 possible phylogenetic trees, and for 5 species there
are 105. From there the number of possible trees grows amazingly quickly. For 50 species there
are more possible trees than the number of atoms in the universe. For 100 species there are
more trees than the volume of the entire universe measured in the smallest possible units,
assuming expansion at the speed of light since the big bang 20 billion years ago.
No computer, no matter how powerful, can examine every possible tree for even a moderate
number of species. Therefore, computer scientists have had to devise clever strategies to avoid
examining every possible tree; so-called heuristic search algorithms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooLr8d_pDBc
By providing a chronicle of past evolutionary events, phylogenetic trees have become central
to understanding the process of evolution, and therefore to the interpretation of all biological
information.
The Tree of Life is of great scientific interest, but does it have immediate
practical value? The answer is a definite Yes!
Phylogenetic comparisons with model organisms (such as the chimpanzee, mouse, zebra fish
and yeast) are providing major insights into the structure and function of the human genome,
knowledge that will enable us to address a wide variety of human disorders.
Medical journals routinely publish phylogenetic trees, which have proven to be critical in
identifying and tracing the origins of emerging infectious diseases such as HIV, the Ebola and
West Nile viruses, anthrax, and influenza.
HIV
In the case of HIV (the virus responsible for AIDS, now the leading infectious cause of death
worldwide), phylogenetic studies have revealed multiple sources of the disease in nonhuman
primates and have also helped trace its transmission through human populations.
Rabies
Rabies, which is transmitted through blood and saliva, is the tenth leading cause of human
death from infectious disease. As it spreads from host to host the viral strain accumulates
mutations in its genetic material, and from these we can recover its phylogenetic history.
The map below shows a phylogeny of a rabies virus strain that spread across Europe starting in the
1930s. This strain originated in African dogs, but then jumped host species into the red fox in
southern Europe and later into the raccoon dog in north eastern Europe. The tree shows a
characteristic transmission wave as the virus spread westward across Europe starting in the 1950s.
Agriculture
Knowledge of phylogenetic relationships also
In Australia, which has more poisonous snakes than any other continent, phylogenetic analysis
is used to help identify antivenins. Venin properties correlate strongly with evolutionary
relationships. Therefore, for example, the anitvenin for the red-bellied black snake can also be
used for the closely related (although very different looking) king brown snake
The Poison in Poison Ivy
Some people who are sensitive to poison
ivy discover that they have a similar
reaction to the skin of mango fruits.
Phylogeny provides the answer to this
puzzling phenomenon. Mangos and poison
ivy turn out to be related.
This pair of brothers were born at the Smithsonians National Zoo in Washington, D.C., on
February 4, 2007.
Active most of the day, they spend their time foraging and gathering leaf litter for nests. In the
wild, each elephant shrew can build six or seven nests in its home range, where it sleeps, cares
for offspring and evades predators.
See link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ntSuzTJw8o
Elephant shrews eat beetles, termites, spiders and ants, and supplement their diet with fruits
and seeds. In captivity they are fed crickets, mealworms and dry cat food supplemented with
peanut oil.
See link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R8hpPY_9kY
Each feature of the living species at the tips of a tree can be mapped onto the tree to determine
where evolutionary changes likely occurred.
Then, at each internal node, the features can be blended together to form an overall picture of
the ancestral species.
On the left of the animation above is a phylogenetic tree of selected arachnids (such as spiders
and scorpions); on the right is an animation showing what ancestral species may have looked
like at different points in the tree.
See link:
See link:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/historyoflife.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fObmcBGMm9I
Here is a close-up view of the tree from the animation above:
This is part of Chapter 1 of the book:
The Demoncratic Version Volume II
By Victor E Rosez
* https://phys.org/news/2016-05-earth-home-trillion-species.html
* see also missing Link Lokiarchaeota
We are not only talking about the New Origin of Species
but also about the real mechanics that made evolution
possible, because there is evidence enough that once
there was a world dominated by RNA lifeforms.
The non-cellular RNA life forms are two major things:
- They are the last common ancestor of Life.
- They are the major driver of human and all other
evolutions of lifeforms, much more than natural selection,
changing ecological environments due to sudden
cataclysms or mass extinction.
*https://www.ted.com/talks/nina_jablonski_breaks_the_illusion_of_skin_color
*darwin-c-the-descent-of-man-and-selection-in-relation-to-sex.
His prediction that the inferior races of the earth would be
swept by the superior race was also wrong, as far as it is
possible to speak about inferior and superior races of
course. We clearly can see in comparison that all non-
Western populations are showing a much larger
demographic growth.