Spiral of Life II: Co-Evolution of Plants and Animals

Summary

Discover how plants and animals, such as insects and birds, evolved together! The Spiral of Life II mural identifies major steps in the evolution of plants and their co-evolution with vertebrates and arthropods. It depicts key evolutionary milestones, such as the appearance of vessels, seeds, and flowers. It highlights curious relationships from all over the world: the sun orchid and the hawk moth of Madagascar, the southern beech tree and the kiwi bird of New Zealand, and many more.

The Spiral of Life is a time-scaled modern phylogenetic tree. It uses a radial branching out of species from the last universal common ancestor in order to emphasize that evolution is not exclusively linear or vertical. It also considers the role that lateral gene transfer plays in the evolution of life.