How do scientists represent the relationships between organisms?
A tree of life (phylogenetic tree) indicates how scientists understand the way in which evolutionary trends have occurred. A phylogenetic tree shows the evolutionary history of a group of organisms. Systematic, the study of biological diversity and its classification, is an attempt to categorize organisms in increasingly related groupings, or taxa. Binomial nomenclature (genus and species, Homo sapiens) is the standard way to name organism. Larger, more inclusive taxa, like family, order, class and kingdom provide a way to organize less and less related organisms. Arranging life in these taxa is, like science in general, constantly changing when new data emerges. The Tree of Life Home Page is an interesting resource on systematics. Try typing the order Coleoptera into the search page.
