Which places are near Berlin, how close are London and Paris and who is the meerkat’s closest relative? While tools such as Google Maps have been available for the first two questions for some time, the question of biological proximity was rather difficult for laypersons to answer. Researchers have now published a “map” that can be used to interactively explore the taxonomic relationships of all 2.6 million known species. But it is not just limited to animals – plants, bacteria and fungi are also included.
The family tree of life is a complex, multi-branching system. In the course of evolution, countless very different forms of organisms have developed from the first cells. The biological taxonomy, the classification of the different tribes, genera and species, shows how closely these are related to each other. There are those that are closer together and others that are farther apart. For example, potato and tomato plants are closely related, but meerkats and lynxes are also biologically close. The taxonomic degree of relationship could therefore also be transferred to a kind of geographical map.
All 2.6 million known species
A research team led by Martin Freiberg from the University of Leipzig has now published such a “map” of life on earth. The so-called LifeGate includes all 2.6 million known species on the planet – arranged according to taxonomic proximity. “I wanted to build LifeGate in such a way that all species are equal and that the incredible variety of species can really be experienced and understood,” says Freiberg. The principle of the free map works similar to that of a geographical one. In the start view you can see the different strains of biology. You can now zoom into this. Classes, orders, families and genera appear – right down to the individual species.
Freiberg used biological taxonomy as the basis for his work. In biology, the phylogenetic development and family relationships of living beings are described in so-called phylogenies. Even if some of these were researched early on, only modern phylogenies based on DNA analyzes found their way into the LifeGate map. Freiberg finally brought them together for the first time in such a way that the relative position of all species can be recognized at the same time and the depiction is not limited to frogs or orchids, for example. “Since LifeGate is not limited to any group, it is the first time that relationships between species can be represented,” says Freiberg.
“Pictures are more memorable than numbers”
However, the individual species are by no means only signposted with the dry biological names – instead, around 420,000 species are currently also represented by photos. The database behind it even includes twelve million images of creatures, regardless of whether they are palm trees, pandas or parameciums. However, there are many pictures of some species, while others do not appear at all. This also has to do with the fact that most of the illustrations were provided by volunteers. Around 6,000 people worldwide took part in the campaign. “Pictures are easier to remember than bare numbers and make it easier to access the topic of biodiversity. That is why the map also fascinates amateurs and laypeople. It’s not just biologists who go to the zoo,” explains Freiberg.
The scientist has been working on the implementation of the map since 2008. “LifeGate started as a scientific explanation project for my students,” says Freiberg. In addition to the sheer number of 2.6 million known species, the technical implementation was also a major challenge. In the next step, Freiberg wants to make it possible for different images to be shown for individual species. For example, you should be able to take a closer look at the eyes and ears or the faeces and footprints of individual animals. LifeGate is also said to offer virtual journeys that could depict relationships in the food or pollination chain. “In the future, any online search for animals, plants or bacteria will start with LifeGate. It should become the Google Maps of biodiversity,” states the researcher.
Source: University of Leipzig, German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv); LifeGate card