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I created The Tree of Life for the Institute of Biology at the University of Southern Denmark. The exhibit opened in January 2003. It functions as a welcoming statement to visitors to the institute, highlighting evolutionary relationships between groups of organisms. The exhibit consists of six components.

The University of Southern Denmark was designed by Danish architect Knud Holscher in the sixties. The University has a distinct appearance, constructed of sheer concrete plated with oxidized sheets of iron. Inside, the theme continues with rusty grids serving as ceiling covering, scaffolding for plant supports, and room dividers. The exhibit The Tree of Life incorporates the University's design features, using oxidized iron for the branches of the tree of life and complimenting the color schemes of the University.



The Tree of Life is not only the name of the exhibit, but also the generally recognized name of the phylogenetic "tree" that shows the interrelatedness of all living groups of organisms.

Living organisms are generally divided into two groups, the prokaryotes and the eukaryotes. The group prokaryota encompasses Bacteria and Archaea or in other words, all the microorganisms commonly known as bacteria. The group eukaryota consists of both micro- and macroscopic life forms, and includes the kingdom Animalia, of which we humans are a part.

  

 

Prokaryota features select Bacteria (Thermotogales, cyanobacteria and purple bacteria) and the three groups of Archaea (Crenarchaeota, Korarchaeota and Euryarchaeota).

As all prokaryotes are microscopic, the display mainly uses photographs of known habitats for the bacteria. For example, Thermotogales are known to inhabit so-called Black Smokers (deep sea hydrothermal vents) and thus, a photograph of a Black Smoker is shown.

 

  

 

Fungi & Plantae highlights some of the major groups of fungi and plants.

Fungi were once considered plants, but today they are placed in their own kingdom. Indeed, phylogenetic analysis places them almost as far from plants as plants are from animals! The display features three groups of fungi: Zygomycota, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.

The plants are represented by a bryophyte, a seedless vascular plant, a gymnosperm and an angiosperm, respectively.

 

 

Arthropoda is the first display in a series of three featuring the animal kingdom. Arthropoda is by far the largest phylum of animals, including about 900,000 recorded species - more than three fourths of all known animal species.

The display features two arachnids (a spider and a scorpion), a crustacean (a lobster), and four insects (a dragonfly, a grasshoppper, a honeybee and a butterfly).

 

  

 

Mollusca & Echinodermata is the second display on the animal kingdom. The group mollusca is the second largest animal phylum with 50,000 existing species and 35,000 fossil species. Here, the molluscs are represented by two snails, two cephalopods (squid, octopus etc.) and one bivalve (mussels, clams etc.).

The phylum echinodermata is a group of spiny-skinned, exclusively marine animals. It is represented here by two sea stars, a sea cucumbers, a sea urchin and a sea lily.

 

  

 

Vertebrata is the third and last display on the animal kingdom. Members of the subphylum of vertebrates are characterized by having vertebrae - the spinal column of bony disks that form what is also known as the backbone.

The vertebrates are a very diverse group, and the display features a cartilaginous fish (a shark), a bony fish (a trout), an amphibian (a frog), a mammal (a bat), a reptile (a snake) and a bird.