Common Ancestor (DNA, Ester Bonds)
Bacteria (Peptidoglycan)
Escherichia coli
Common Ancestor (Histones)
Eukarya (Nucleus, Organelles)
Archaeplastida (Primary Plastids)
Common Ancestor
Chlorophyll a & b, b-Carotene cellulose rich cell walls
Ring-Shaped cellulose-synthesizing proteins phragmoplast
Land Plants (embryo, sporic life cycle, gametangia, sporangia, apical meristems and desiccation-resistant spores)
Common Ancestor
Common Ancestor
Common Ancestor of vascular plants (xylem and phloem, leaves, dominant sporophyte, stomata and waxy cuticle, Lignin)
Lycophytes (Lychophylls)
Fan clubmoss (Diphasiastrum digitatum)
Common Ancestor (Megaphylls)
Monilophytes
Ferns
Eastern Marsh Fern (Thelypteris palustris)
Horsetails
Seed Plants (Ovules, Pollen, Seeds, Heterospory, Wood)
Gymnosperms
Conifers
Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)
Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)
Angiosperms (Flowers, Fruit, Endosperm, Ovaries)
Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
White Water Lily (Nymphaea alba)
Hornworts
Field hornwort (Anthoceros agrestis)
Mosses
Woolly Feather Moss (Tomentypnum nitens)
Liverworts
Common Liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha)
Zygotic life cycle
Charophytes
Braun's stonewort (Chara braunii)
Chlorophytes
Phycoerythrin photosynthetic pigment
Rhodophyta
Glaucophyte Algae
Unikonta (Absorptive Heterotrophy)
Opisthokonta (single posterior flagellum on swimming cells, absorptive heterotrophy )
Animals (Mobility, Gametic Life Cycle, Complex Organ Systems, Multicellular)
Eumetazoa (Tissues)
Bilateria (Bilateral Symmetry, Triploblastic, Cephalization)
Protostomia (Spiral, determinant cleavage, Blastopore becomes mouth)
Lophotrochozoa (Presence of
trochophore larvae or
lophophore)
Mollusca
Gastropoda
Golden Apple Snail (Pomacea canaliculata)
Bivalvia (No cephalization)
Soft Shell Clam (Mya arenaria)
Cephalopoda
Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas)
Platyhelminthes (Flatworm)
"Tubella"
Free Living Rhabditophorans
Macrostomum lignano (Free living)
Trematoda
Sheep Liver Fluke (Fasciola hepatica)
Tapeworm
Pork Tapeworm (Taenia solium)
Annelida
Common Earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris)
Ecdysozoa (Ecdysis)
(Molting, Exoskeleton, Jointed Appendages)
Arthropoda
Chelicerata
Southern Black Widow (Latrodectus mactans)
Pancrustaceans
Crustaceans
Chesapeake Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus)
Hexapoda
Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
Nematoda
Roundworm (Caenorhabditis elegans)
Deuterostomia (Radial, indeterminate, Blastopore becomes anus)
Echinodermata (Water vascular system)
Echinozoa
Holothuroidea (Sea Cucumbers)
California sea cucumber (Apostichopus californicus)
Echinoidea (Urchins)
Purple Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus)
Asterozoa
Asteroidea (Sea Stars)
Giant Sea Star (Pisaster giganteus)
Ophiuroidea (Brittle Stars)
Serpent Star (Ophiura ophiura)
Chordata (Notochord, segmentation, jointed appendages, Pharyngeal slits)
Vertebrata (Vertebral column) Craniata (heads) Ectothems, cartilage
Gnathostomes (Jaw, bony skeleton)
Osteichthyes (Lungs, lung derivatives)
Lobed Fins
Tetrapods, Limbs with digits
Amniota (Amniotic egg)
Mammalia (Endotherm, hair, milk)
Carnivora
American Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Reptilia
Birds (Endotherm)
Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)
Amphibia
Red Eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas)
Dipnoi Lungfish
Colelacanth
Latimeria chalumnae
Ray-finned fishes
Blue Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)
Chondrichthyes (loss of bony skeleton)
Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias)
Agnathans (Cyclostomata)
Myxini (hagfish)
Pacific hagfish (Eptatretus stoutii)
Petromyzontida
Lampreys
Urochordata
Tunicates
Stolidobranchia
Sea Peaches (Halocynthia aurantium)
Cephalochorata
Lancelets
Branchiostoma lanceolatum
Radial Symmetry, Diploblastic
Cnidaria
Medusozoa
Moon Jelly (Aurelia aurita)
Pennaria disticha
Anthozoa
Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata)
Parazoa
Porifira
Giant Barrel Sponge (Xestospongia muta)
Choanoflagellates
Fungi (Chitin Cell Wall, zygotic life cycle with dikaryotic stage, Multicellular)
Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)
Black Bread Mold
Amoebozoa (Pseudopodia)
Slime Molds
SAR Clade
Common Ancestor
Stramenopiles (Tripartite Flagellar Hair, Secondary Plastids )
Diatoms
Kelp
Alveolates ( Membraneous Vesicles, Secondary Plastids )
Dianoflagellates
Rhizarians ( Filose Pseudopodia )
Radiolarians
Foraminfera
Excavata ( Feeding Groove, Secondary Plastids )
euglenoids
Archaea (Ether Bonds)
Methanobrevibacter smithii