Space, time, form: viewing the Tree of Life
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Updated: May 26, 2026

A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts
Published on: February 5, 2014
1Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK. Roderic.Page@glasgow.ac.uk
Abstract:
There are numerous ways to display a phylogenetic tree, which is reflected in the diversity of software tools available to phylogenetists. Displaying very large trees continues to be a challenge, made ever harder as increasing computing power enables researchers to construct ever-larger trees. At the same time, computing technology is enabling novel visualisations, ranging from geophylogenies embedded on digital globes to touch-screen interfaces that enable greater interaction with evolutionary trees. In this review, I survey recent developments in phylogenetic visualisation, highlighting successful (and less successful) approaches and sketching some future directions.
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