All life on Earth derives from common ancestry. We are related. We are part of the same phenomenon as all living things.
The evidence for common descent is present in our morphology and our biochemistry, in organisms still living and the remains of those long dead. Thanks to ever-improving evidence and techniques, particularly in the field of genetic sequencing, we have an increasingly refined understanding of the relationships between living things.
This is the evolution of life. This is an important and true story, one that I intend to keep telling, as truly as I can tell it.
I am a human being. If you are reading this, then chances are good that you are human as well. So, let’s start with humans, and consider an abridged account of our heritage.
Humans and our hominin ancestors belong to Hominidae, the Great Apes. Chimpanzees and bonobos are our siblings, gorillas are our first cousins, orangutans our second cousins.
As great apes, we belong to the Primate clade, among gibbons, Old- and New-World monkeys, tarsiers, and lemurs. When one includes treeshrews and colugos, our clade is called Euarchonta, for “true ancestor.”
Euarchonta is the sister clade to Glires, home of rabbits and rodents. Together, our combined clade is aptly named Euarchontoglires.
Euarchontoglires is the sister clade to Laurasiatheria, which encompasses all ungulates, carnivores, bats, and hedgehogs. Together with elephants and sloths we form the clade Eutheria. And all together with marsupials and monotremes we form the clade Mammalia (mammals).
Mammals are the last surviving Synapsids. Synapsids are the sister clade to Sauropsids, which encompass snakes and lizards, turtles, crocodilians, and dinosaurs, including theropods, of which the surviving members are called birds. Synapsids and Sauropsids together form the Amniotes, distinguished by the presence of the amnion membrane that protects a developing embryo, as well as the lack of a larval stage.
Amniotes are a sister clade to Amphibians. Together we form the clade Tetrapoda, meaning four-limbed. As tetrapods, we belong to Sarcopterygii (the lobe-finned fish) alongside lungfish and coelacanths.
As Sarcopterygii, we are sisters to the Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish, 99% of extant fish species) within the clade Euteleostomi/Osteichthyes (bony fish).
As Osteichthyes, we are sisters to Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish like sharks and rays) within the clade Gnathostoma (jawed vertebrates).
Together, we are all Chordates, defined by certain shared characteristics during development, notably the formation of a notochord (which develops into our spine).
As Chordates, our sister clade is Ambulocraria, which includes echinoderms such as sea stars/starfish. Together, we form the Deuterostomes, a name referring to how our guts form as embryos.
Our sister clade as Deuterostomes are the Protostomes. These include annelids, such as earthworms and leeches; molluscs, such as snails and cephalopods; and athropods, such as spiders, crabs, and insects. Together, the Deuterostomes and Protostomes form the Bilateria, so named because our embryos have bilateral (left-right) symmetry.
As Bilateria, we are sisters to Cnidaria, containing corals and sea jellies/jellyfish. And together with Ctenophora (comb jellies) and Porifera (sponges), we form the clade Animalia (animals).
We then note further that the clade Holozoa (“animal-like”) to which we belong is sister to the Holomycota (“fungus-like”), which contains all fungi. Together, animals and fungi share the clade Opisthokonta, derived from Unikonts, which are sisters to the Bikonts, which gave rise to plants.
This is our place among the Eukaryotes (meaning “good kernel,” referring to the nucleus in which our cells house our genomes). And the origin of Eukaryotes is with Archaea and Bacteria.
I like to think the above is a good survey of life from our human perspective. But it’s a bit wordy, short of details about our sister clades, and potentially a little hard to visualize.
Some great tools already exist, such as OneZoom.org, for exploring the phylogenetic tree of life. If you wanted, you could visit the entry for humans at that site and scale outward, following the trail I described above. You could also travel down any number of side paths investigating other clades and species.
But I had an idea for my own illustration of phylogeny. What I want to share today is a pocket-sized reminder of common descent, using easily recognized symbols, illustrating the evolutionary relationships between organisms that have proven themselves to be important to human culture.
I’ve assembled a phylogenetic tree of emoji.
I tried to include as many characters from the current Unicode 14.0 emoji list as possible. Some—like herb 🌿, bird 🐦, bug 🐛, or microbe 🦠—were too vague to fit any single clade (I almost cut fish 🐟 for this reason, but “tropical fish” 🐠 isn’t much better, so let’s fill the aquarium). I also tried to stay as close to depictions of actual organisms as possible, though I did include bread 🍞 as wheat, a chocolate bar 🍫 as cacao, a cleaning sponge 🧽 as sponges, and a star ⭐️ as sea stars/starfish.
I’ve presented the phylogenetic tree three times below. First, as a clean image (using the Apple emoji set) to get around any web browser issues. Next, as Unicode text, adding a label to each “leaf” on the tree. Finally, for the detail-oriented, as text with link nodes referring to Wikipedia for more information on each organism and clade.
I intend to revisit and revise this project as our understanding of evolutionary relationships grows and more emoji are added to Unicode. For now, please enjoy. 💖
┌╴🌲 Conifer
┌┤┌╴🥑 Avocado
┤└┤ ┌╴🌷 Tulip
│ │┌┤ ┌╴🧄 Garlic
│ └┤│┌┴╴🧅 Onion
│ │└┤┌╴🍌 Banana
│ │ └┤┌╴🌴 Palm
│ │ ├┴╴🥥 Coconut
│ │ │┌╴🍍 Pineapple
│ │ └┤┌╴🌽 Maize
│ │ └┤┌╴🌾 Rice
│ │ └┤┌╴🍞 Wheat
│ │ └┴╴🎍🎋 Bamboo
│ │┌╴🪷 Lotus (Nelumbo)
│ └┤ ┌╴🌵 Cactus
│ │┌┤ ┌╴🫐 Blueberry
│ └┤│┌┴╴🥝 Kiwifruit
│ │└┤ ┌╴🌻 Sunflower
│ │ │┌┴╴🥕 Carrot
│ │ └┤┌╴🫒 Olive
│ │ └┤┌╴🍠 Sweet potato
│ │ └┤ ┌╴🫑 Bell pepper
│ │ │┌┴╴🌶 Chili pepper
│ │ └┤┌╴🍅 Tomato
│ │ └┼╴🥔 Potato
│ │ └╴🍆 Eggplant
│ │┌╴🍇 Grape
│ └┤ ┌╴🥦 Broccoli
│ │ ┌┤┌╴🌺 Hibiscus
│ │┌┤└┴╴🍫 Cacao
│ └┤│┌╴🍁 Maple
│ │└┼╴🥭 Mango
│ │ │┌╴🍊 Orange
│ │ └┴╴🍋 Lemon
│ │ ┌╴🥜 Peanut
│ │┌┤┌╴🫘 Bean (Phaseolus)
│ └┤└┴╴☘️🍀 Clover
│ │ ┌╴🌰 Chestnut
│ │┌┤┌╴🍉 Watermelon
│ └┤└┤┌╴🥒 Cucumber
│ │ └┴╴🍈 Melon (Cucumis melo)
│ │ ┌╴🍓 Strawberry
│ │┌┴╴🌹 Rose
│ └┤ ┌╴🍐 Pear
│ │┌┴╴🍏🍎 Apple
│ └┤┌╴🍑 Peach
│ └┴╴🍒🌸 Cherry
│┌╴🍄 Mushroom
└┤┌╴🧽 Sponge
└┤┌╴🪸 Coral
└┤ ┌╴🪱 Earthworm
│ ┌┤┌╴🦪 Oyster
│┌┤└┼╴🐌 Snail
└┤│ │┌╴🐙 Octopus
││ └┴╴🦑 Squid
││ ┌╴🕷 Spider
││┌┴╴🦂 Scorpion
│└┤ ┌╴🦐 Shrimp
│ │┌┤┌╴🦞 Lobster
│ └┤└┴╴🦀 Crab
│ │ ┌╴🦗 Cricket
│ │┌┴╴🪳 Cockroach
│ └┤ ┌╴🐝 Bee
│ │┌┴╴🐜 Ant
│ └┤ ┌╴🪲 Beetle
│ │┌┴╴🐞 Ladybird beetle
│ └┤┌╴🦋 Butterfly
│ └┤┌╴🦟 Mosquito
│ └┴╴🪰 Housefly
│┌╴⭐️ Sea star
└┤┌╴🦈 Shark
└┤ ┌╴🐟 Ray-finned fish
│┌┼╴🐠 Butterflyfish
└┤└╴🐡 Porcupinefish
│┌╴🐸 Frog
└┤ ┌╴🦎 Lizard
│ ┌┴╴🐍 Snake
│┌┤┌╴🐢 Turtle
└┤└┤┌╴🐊 Crocodile
│ └┤┌╴🦕 Sauropod
│ └┤┌╴🦖 Tyrannosaurus
│ └┤ ┌╴🦢 Swan
│ │ ┌┴╴🦆 Duck
│ │┌┤┌╴🦃 Turkey
│ └┤└┤┌╴🐓🐔 Chicken
│ │ └┴╴🦚 Indian peafowl
│ │┌╴🦩 Flamingo
│ └┤┌╴🦤 Dodo
│ ├┴╴🕊 Dove
│ │┌╴🐧 Penguin
│ └┤┌╴🦉 Owl
│ └┼╴🦅 Eagle
│ └╴🦜 Parrot
│ ┌╴🦘 Kangaroo
│┌┴╴🐨 Koala
└┤ ┌╴🦥 Sloth
│┌┤┌╴🦣 Mammoth
└┤└┴╴🐘 Elephant
│ ┌╴🐒🐵 Monkey
│ ┌┤┌╴🦧 Orangutan
│┌┤└┤┌╴🦍 Gorilla
└┤│ └┴╴🧍🧑 Human
││┌╴🐇🐰 Rabbit
│└┤┌╴🐿 Chipmunk
│ └┤┌╴🦫 Beaver
│ └┤┌╴🐹 Hamster
│ └┤┌╴🐁🐭 Mouse
│ └┴╴🐀 Rat
│┌╴🦔 Hedgehog
└┤┌╴🦇 Bat
└┤ ┌╴🐈⬛🐈🐱 Cat
│ ┌┤┌╴🐅🐯 Tiger
│┌┤└┤┌╴🦁 Lion
└┤│ └┴╴🐆 Leopard
││ ┌╴🦊 Fox
││┌┤┌╴🐕🐩🦮🐕🦺🐶 Dog
│└┤└┴╴🐺 Wolf
│ │ ┌╴🐼 Giant panda
│ │┌┤┌╴🐻 Brown bear
│ └┤└┴╴🐻❄️ Polar bear
│ │┌╴🦭 Harbor seal
│ └┤┌╴🦨 Skunk
│ └┤┌╴🦝 Raccoon
│ └┤┌╴🦦 Otter
│ └┴╴🦡 Badger
│ ┌╴🦏 Rhinoceros
│┌┤┌╴🦓 Zebra
└┤└┴╴🐎🐴 Horse
│ ┌╴🦙 Llama
│┌┤┌╴🐪 Dromedary camel
└┤└┴╴🐫 Bactrian camel
│ ┌╴🐗 Wild boar
│┌┴╴🐖🐷 Pig
└┤ ┌╴🦛 Hippopotamus
│┌┤┌╴🐋 Baleen whale
└┤└┴╴🐬 Dolphin
│┌╴🦒 Giraffe
└┤┌╴🦌 Deer
└┤ ┌╴🐏🐑 Sheep
│┌┴╴🐐 Goat
└┤┌╴🐃 Water buffalo
└┤┌╴🦬 Bison
└┴╴🐂🐄🐮 Cattle
┌o╴🌲
┌oooo┤ ┌o╴🥑
o┤ └o┤ ┌o╴🌷
│ │┌o┤ ┌╴🧄
│ └┤ │┌ooo┴╴🧅
│ │ └┤ ┌o╴🍌
│ │ └o┤ ┌╴🌴
│ │ ├oo┴╴🥥
│ │ │ ┌o╴🍍
│ │ └o┤ ┌oo╴🌽
│ │ └o┤ ┌o╴🍞
│ │ └o┤┌o╴🌾
│ │ └┴o╴🎍🎋
│ │ ┌o╴🪷
│ └o┤ ┌o╴🌵
│ │┌o┤ ┌╴🫐
│ └┤ │ ┌o┴╴🥝
│ │ └o┤ ┌o╴🌻
│ │ │ ┌o┴o╴🥕
│ │ └o┤ ┌o╴🫒
│ │ └o┤ ┌o╴🍠
│ │ └o┤ ┌╴🫑
│ │ │ ┌o┴╴🌶
│ │ └o┤ ┌╴🍅
│ │ └o┼╴🥔
│ │ └╴🍆
│ │ ┌o╴🍇
│ └oo┤ ┌o╴🥦
│ │ ┌┤ ┌╴🌺
│ │ ┌o┤└o┴╴🍫
│ └o┤ │ ┌o╴🍁
│ │ └o┼oo╴🥭
│ │ │ ┌╴🍊
│ │ └oo┴╴🍋
│ │ ┌o╴🥜
│ │ ┌ooo┤ ┌╴🫘
│ └o┤ └o┴o╴☘️🍀
│ │ ┌o╴🌰
│ │┌┤ ┌o╴🍉
│ └┤└o┤ ┌╴🥒
│ │ └o┴╴🍈
│ │ ┌╴🍓
│ │ ┌o┴╴🌹
│ └oo┤ ┌╴🍐
│ │ ┌o┴╴🍏🍎
│ └o┤ ┌╴🍑
│ └o┴╴🍒🌸
│ ┌oo╴🍄
└ooo┤ ┌o╴🧽
└oo┤ ┌o╴🪸
└ooo┤ ┌o╴🪱
│ ┌o┤ ┌o╴🦪
│ ┌o┤ └o┼o╴🐌
└o┤ │ │ ┌╴🐙
│ │ └o┴╴🦑
│ │ ┌╴🕷
│ │ ┌oo┴╴🦂
│ └oo┤ ┌╴🦐
│ │ ┌oo┤┌╴🦞
│ └o┤ └┴╴🦀
│ │ ┌o╴🦗
│ │ ┌o┴o╴🪳
│ └o┤ ┌╴🐝
│ │ ┌o┴╴🐜
│ └oo┤ ┌╴🪲
│ │ ┌oo┴╴🐞
│ └o┤ ┌o╴🦋
│ └o┤ ┌╴🦟
│ └o┴╴🪰
│ ┌oo╴⭐️
└o┤ ┌o╴🦈
└oo┤ ┌╴🐟
│ ┌o┼╴🐠
└o┤ └╴🐡
│ ┌o╴🐸
└oo┤ ┌╴🦎
│ ┌o┴╴🐍
│ ┌ooo┤ ┌o╴🐢
└o┤ └o┤ ┌o╴🐊
│ └o┤ ┌o╴🦕
│ └oo┤ ┌o╴🦖
│ └o┤ ┌╴🦢
│ │ ┌o┴╴🦆
│ │ ┌o┤ ┌╴🦃
│ └oo┤ └o┤┌╴🐓🐔
│ │ └┴╴🦚
│ │ ┌o╴🦩
│ └o┤ ┌╴🦤
│ ├o┴╴🕊
│ │ ┌oo╴🐧
│ └o┤ ┌o╴🦉
│ └o┼o╴🦅
│ └oo╴🦜
│ ┌╴🦘
│ ┌o┴╴🐨
└ooo┤ ┌o╴🦥
│ ┌o┤ ┌╴🦣
└o┤ └o┴╴🐘
│ ┌╴🐒🐵
│ ┌ooo┤ ┌o╴🦧
│ ┌o┤ └o┤ ┌o╴🦍
└o┤ │ └o┴oo╴🧍🧑
│ │ ┌o╴🐇🐰
│ └o┤ ┌o╴🐿
│ └o┤┌o╴🦫
│ └┤ ┌o╴🐹
│ └o┤ ┌╴🐁🐭
│ └o┴╴🐀
│ ┌o╴🦔
└o┤ ┌o╴🦇
└o┤ ┌oo╴🐈⬛🐈🐱
│ ┌oo┤ ┌╴🐅🐯
│ ┌oo┤ └oo┤┌╴🦁
└o┤ │ └┴╴🐆
│ │ ┌o╴🦊
│ │ ┌o┤ ┌╴🐕🐩🦮🐕🦺🐶
│ └o┤ └o┴╴🐺
│ │ ┌o╴🐼
│ │ ┌o┤ ┌╴🐻
│ └o┤ └o┴╴🐻❄️
│ │ ┌o╴🦭
│ └o┤ ┌o╴🦨
│ └o┤┌o╴🦝
│ └┤ ┌╴🦦
│ └o┴╴🦡
│ ┌o╴🦏
│ ┌o┤ ┌╴🦓
└o┤ └o┴╴🐎🐴
│ ┌o╴🦙
│ ┌o┤ ┌╴🐪
└o┤ └o┴╴🐫
│ ┌╴🐗
│ ┌o┴╴🐖🐷
└o┤ ┌o╴🦛
│ ┌o┤ ┌o╴🐋
└o┤ └o┴o╴🐬
│ ┌o╴🦒
└o┤┌o╴🦌
└┤ ┌╴🐏🐑
│ ┌o┴╴🐐
└o┤ ┌o╴🐃
└o┤ ┌╴🦬
└o┴╴🐂🐄🐮