How to Build a Phylogenetic Tree
Phylogeny is the area of science devoted to mapping out how organisms are related to one another. In a certain sense, it is about showing how organisms evolved from one cell into the diverse organisms that inhabit the planet now. Constructing an accurate phylogenetic tree can provide a visual representation that allows you to see how related a pig and an oak tree actually are when compared to other organisms.
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Instructions
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Determine what level of taxonomy your phylogenetic tree will represent. There are six kingdoms, 35 to 40 phyla and increasingly more as you go to class, order, family, genus and species.
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Start with the progenitor cell that is fabled to have given rise to all other cells in existence. Draw a line outward, and branch off to represent archaea becoming bacteria. Draw a bit further and have bacteria and protists branch from one another. Try and make the length of the branches represent a time span in millions of years.
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Continue branching until you have represented all of the kingdoms. Although you continue branching, all lines should extend to the end to show that all kingdoms are still represented today.
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Make further distinctions and branches as you see fit. You may choose to represent all of the phyla or only the phyla for a specific kingdom. Either way, the organisms represented furthest down on the chart should be the first ones to have evolved and those represented later will be the most recent.
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Tips & Warnings
Seek out multiple sources for when certain organisms evolved. Scientists cannot even agree on how old the world is, let alone exactly when an organism showed up on Earth.
Don't get too complex. There are millions of species on the planet that are known and likely millions more that are unknown. Factor in extinct species, and a totally accurate phylogenetic tree is impossible to create. Focus on those organisms of interest to you.
