phylogeny

fern.gg

The animal tree of life, and the dates on its branches. Open a group to see what it splits into, or put two animals in the two slots and the tool works out where their lines last met.

222 groups, 497 species

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Metazoa

animals

kingdom750 MaTonian1,500,000 living species

what marks this group out

multicellular, no cell wall, collagen extracellular matrix, a sperm-and-egg life cycle

note

The order of the first few branches is the longest-running open argument in animal phylogeny. Sponges-first and comb-jellies-first both have serious support; this tree draws them as an unresolved split rather than choosing.

crown age

The living members of Metazoa last shared an ancestor about 750 Ma. Anything older than that on this branch is extinct.

it splits into 3

listed species in this group (497)

and 473 more

arrow keys move through the tree. › or a double-click shows only that group; alt-click a triangle to open a whole branch at once.