Truth is, we don’t know how the Tree of Life will fall, and we don’t know when. It could happen in five years, in 40 years, or tomorrow; perhaps, as you read this, it has already happened. But we do ...

The family tree of living and extinct organisms encompasses 50,000 species–only a fraction of the world’s history of life–and would easily take up hundreds of pages if laid out linearly.

'Tree of Life,' a Sitka spruce in Olympic National Park, is nearing the end of its life on the Washington coast. "The Tree of Life will be driftwood." SF Gate Logo Hearst Newspapers Logo.

Scientists have unveiled a new "tree of life," demonstrating just how the world's 2.3 million species of animals plants, fungi and microbes are connected. The project, involving 11 institutions ...