Visually stunning tree of all known life unveiled online

Date:
December 14, 2021
Source:
Imperial College London
Summary:
OneZoom is a one-stop site for exploring all life on Earth,
its evolutionary history, and how much of it is threatened with
extinction.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== OneZoom is a one-stop site for exploring all life on Earth, its
evolutionary history, and how much of it is threatened with extinction.


==========================================================================
The OneZoom explorer -- available at onezoom.org -- maps the connections between 2.2 million living species, the closest thing yet to a single
view of all species known to science. The interactive tree of life
allows users to zoom in to any species and explore its relationships with others, in a seamless visualisation on a single web page. The explorer
also includes images of over 85,000 species, plus, where known, their vulnerability to extinction.

OneZoom was developed by Imperial College London biodiversity researcher
Dr James Rosindell and University of Oxford evolutionary biologist Dr Yan
Wong. In a paper published today in Methods in Ecology and Evolution,
Drs Wong and Rosindell present the result of over ten years of work,
gradually creating what they regard as "the Google Earth of biology."
Dr Wong, from the Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford, said:
"By developing new algorithms for visualisation and data processing,
and combining them with 'big data' gathered from multiple sources, we've created something beautiful. It allows people to find their favourite
living things, be they golden moles or giant sequoias, and see how
evolutionary history connects them together to create a giant tree of all
life on Earth." Dr Rosindell, from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial, said: "We have worked hard to make the tree easy to explore for everyone, and we also hope to send a powerful message: that much of our biodiversity is under threat." The 'leaves' representing each species
on the tree are colour coded depending on their risk of extinction:
green for not threatened, red for threatened, and black for recently
extinct. However, most of the leaves on the tree are grey, meaning they
have not been evaluated, or scientists don't have enough data to know
their extinction risk. Even among the species described by science,
only a tiny fraction have been studied or have a known risk of extinction.



==========================================================================
Dr Wong added: "It's extraordinary how much research there is still to
be done.

Building the OneZoom tree of life was only possible through sophisticated methods to gather and combine existing data -- it would have been
impossible to curate all this by hand." The OneZoom explorer is
configured to work with touchscreens, and the developers have made the
software free to download and use by educational organisations such as
museums and zoos.

Dr Rosindell commented: "Two million species can feel like a number
too big to visualise, and no museum or zoo can hold all of them! But
our tool can help represent all Earth's species and allow visitors to
connect with their plight.

We hope that now this project is complete and available, many venues
will be interested in using it to complement their existing displays."
Drs Rosindell and Wong have also set up a OneZoom charity with the aim
of using their tree of life to "advance the education of the public in
the subjects of evolution, biodiversity and conservation of the variety
of life on Earth." Uniquely, to support this charity, each leaf on the
tree is available for sponsorship, allowing anyone to 'adopt' a species
and enabling OneZoom to continue their mission. More than 800 leaves
have currently been sponsored by individuals and selected organisations,
many with personal messages of how they feel connected to the conservation
of nature.

The team have also integrated the tree with data from the Wikipedia
project to reveal the 'popularity' of every species, based on how often
their Wikipedia page is viewed. Dr Wong said: "Perhaps unsurprisingly,
humans come out on top, but it has swapped places a few times with the
second most popular: the grey wolf -- the 'species' that includes all
domestic dogs." In the plant world, cannabis comes out on top, followed
by cabbage, the potato, and the coconut. The most popular ray-finned
fishes are sport fishing species, particularly salmon and trout.

Now the tree is complete, the team hope to create bespoke 'tours' and experiences of species connected in imaginative new ways -- such as
tours of iridescent animals, medicinal plants, or even species named
after celebrities.

They have created a special screen capture tool for easy saving and
sharing of user-generated tours.

Dr Rosindell said: "With OneZoom, we hope to give
people a completely new way to appreciate evolutionary
history and the vastness of life on Earth in all its beauty." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Imperial_College_London. Original
written by Hayley Dunning. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.


========================================================================== Related Multimedia:
* Images_and_videos_of_the_OneZoom_explorer,_tree_of_life ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Yan Wong, James Rosindell. Dynamic visualisation of
million‐tip
trees: The OneZoom project. Methods in Ecology and Evolution,
2021; DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.13766 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211214084554.htm

--- up 1 week, 3 days, 7 hours, 13 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)