Tree of life

Did you know all living organisms, including you, evolved from the same, single celled microbe; the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA)? Where do microbes fit within the tree of life? Watch this animation to find out.

After you have watched the animation, move to the next Step to see some microbes in action in our 3D model. Don’t forget to ‘mark this Step as complete’ before you move on.

This animation was created by Chris Lewis, Izzy Bahrin and Raj Bhogal, undergraduate students from the University of Reading’s Typography and Graphic Communication department.

Recommended reading

• Going green through co-operation: The origins of chloroplasts