This exciting new poster provides a comprehensive overview
of vertebrate evolution in accordance with the new cladistics
system, which it introduces. The most important evolved
characteristics are shown and explained as the "Milestones of
Vertebrate Evolution." These provide the foundation for grouping
similar animals together into "clades,." The main design is an
"Evolution Tree," which is a stylized cladogram. It shows and
identifies all of the major clades. The "tree" design shows how
each branched off from earlier ones and other relationships. Each
of the milestones is predominately marked on the tree as they are
the basis for the most important clades.
The Evolution Tree is superimposed over a geological time chart. The
branches show how milestones resulted in new groups of animals. The
position of the branches shows how animals are related. The beginning,
end and length of each branch shows when they lived, and, the thickness
of branches provides a symbolic representation of the relative abundance
or scarcity of those animals during each period of geological time.
Insets provide a wealth of additional information about related subjects.
These include an introduction to geological time, the dangers of unchecked
evolution, the impact of mass extinctions, adaptive radiation and how various
types of animals dominated the earth at various times. The evolution tree
dramatically shows the impact of the mass extinctions and the animals that
radiated as a result of them. This poster shows around 116 different species
positioned to show the results of evolutionary milestones. Collectively they
provide an incredible overview of the diversity of prehistoric animals. The
linage of each group can be followed forward or backward in time. The design
makes it easy to see the mix of animals that lived at various times.
Dr. Robert Reisz, vertebrate paleontology at the University of Toronto is a
pioneer in cladistics. He was the consultant on this poster, along with Alan Kazlev,
webmaster of palaeo.com.
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Milestones of Verterbrate Evolution
(Click the poster
to see a more
detailed view of
this content-
intensive poster).
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