The study of
prehistoric life is at the forefront of life science studies, natural history
museum interpretive programs, and popular culture, but there has never been any
comprehensive overview of the evolutionary steps in any media. This remarkable
poster fills that need. It contains a wealth of information and presents it in a
very simple way, making it easy to understand.
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 posters 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.
Animal Development, Milestones of Evolution and our Animal Kingdom 2 are
designed to be used both individually and together. Animal Development focuses
on the invertebrates and Milestones of Vertebrate Evolution picks up where it
leaves off. Both show how the various clades evolved; Animal Kingdom show the
results. Teachers, students and professionals will find them to be an invaluable
reference.
