Tree of Life for 2.3 Million Species of Animals, Plants, Fungi and Microbes Created

Scientists have released the "tree of life" for a staggering 2.3 million named species of animals, plants, fungi and microbes. The new map reveals a bit more about the connections between these species, and possibly a bit more about evolution.

Tens of thousands of smaller trees have been published over the years for select branches of the tree of life. Some of these, in fact, have contained upwards of 100,000 species. However, this is the first time ever that these results have been combined into a single tree that encompasses all life. The end result is a digital resource that's available free online for anyone to use.

"This is the first real attempt to connect the dots and put it all together," said Karen Cranston, the principal investigator of the new study, in a news release. "Think of it as Version 1.0."

Evolutionary trees are branching diagrams that often look like a cross between a candelabra and a subway map. They're used to understand how the millions of species on Earth are related to one another. In addition, they help researchers discover new drugs, increase crop and livestock yields, and trace the origins and spread of infectious diseases.

This new tree of life actually shows the relationships among living creatures and how they diverged over time. In fact, the tree traces back to the beginning of life on Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago. However, there's a lot more work to be done on the map.

"It's by no means finished," said Cranston. "It's critically important to share data for already-published and newly-published work if we want to improve the tree."

The tree can be found online.

The study itself was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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