Could you make one for just the base game? For comparisonDue to a combination of hype for the upcoming DLC and procrastination, I decided to spend tonight putting together an evolutionary tree of Planet Zoo's entire roster (as one does). The result is below:
Planet Zoo's Tree of Life
Purple for invertebrates, blue for amphibians, green for (non-avian) reptiles, yellow for birds and red for mammals (varying from light to dark red between monotremes, marsupials and placentals)
To make it a bit easier to understand, I've also broken the tree down into smaller categories:
Invertebrates
Blue for molluscs, red for myriapods, green for insects and purple for arachnidsAmphibians
Yellow for caudatans and green for frogsReptiles
Green for lizards, red for snakes, blue for turtles, purple for crocodilians and yellow for birdsMammals
Purple for monotremes, orange for marsupials, green for xenarthrans, grey for afrotheres, yellow for rodents, magenta for primates, blue for bats, brown for ungulates and red for ferans
NOTE: The timber wolf here is classed as Canis lupus occidentalis for simplicity's sake
God we need more birds.
Mostly just made this out of boredom, but I hope some of you find it interesting. Will likely update it with future additions.
PZ's Tree of Life
- Thread starter Chuditch
- Start date
I use this website to make them, which takes a string of text in the appropriate format and then uses it to generate a phylogenetic tree. I use the Newick format (the only one I know), which looks complicated at first glace but is actually quite simple once you know how it works. The intimidating mess used to generate the whole tree is below:
((Giant Tiger Land Snail,(((Brazilian Wandering Spider,(Brazilian Salmon Pink Tarantula,(Mexican Redknee Tarantula,Goliath Birdeater))Tarantulas)Spiders,(Giant Hairy Desert Scorpion,Giant Forest Scorpion)Scorpions)Arachnids,(Amazonian Giant Centipede,((Giant Burrowing Cockroach,Giant Malaysian Leaf Insect)Polyneopterans,((Titan Beetle,(Goliath Beetle,Sacred Scarab Beetle)Scarabs)Beetles,(Old World Swallowtail,(Cloudless Sulphur,(Monarch,(Menelaus Blue Morpho,European Peacock))))Butterflies))Insects))Arthropods)Protostomes,(((Danube Crested Newt,(Axolotl,Fire Salamander))Caudatans,((American Bullfrog,Goliath Frog)Ranoids,(Red-eyed Tree Frog,(Lehmann's Poison Frog,Golden Poison Frog)Poison frogs))Frogs)Amphibians,(((Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard,(((Yellow Anaconda,Boa Constrictor)Boas,((Common Death Adder,Eastern Brown Snake)Elapids,(Puff Adder,Western Diamondback Rattlesnake)Vipers))Snakes,((Green Iguana,Lesser Antillean Iguana)Iguanas,(Gila Monster,(Komodo Dragon,Nile Monitor)Varanids)))Toxifera)Squamates,((Diamondback Terrapin,(Galapagos Giant Tortoise,Aldabra Giant Tortoise)Tortoises)Turtles,(((American Alligator,(Cuiver's Dwarf Caiman,Spectacled Caiman)Caimans)Alligatoroids,(Gharial,Saltwater Crocodile)Longirostres)Crocodilians,(((Emu,Southern Cassowary),Common Ostrich)Ratites,(Indian Peafowl,(Greater Flamingo,(Red-crowned Crane,(King Penguin,African Penguin)Penguins))Neoaves)Neognaths)Birds)Archosaurs))Reptiles,(Platypus,(((Red Kangaroo,Red-necked Wallaby)Macropods,(Common Wombat,Koala)Vombatiformes)Marsupials,(((Giant Anteater,Nine-banded Armadillo)Xenarthrans,(Aardvark, (African Savannah Elephant,Indian Elephant)Elephants)Afrotherians)Atlantogenatans,(((Black-tailed Prairie Dog,(American Beaver,Capybara))Rodents,((Ring-tailed Lemur,(Red Ruffed Lemur,Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur)Ruffed Lemurs)Lemurs,(Colombian White-faced Capuchin,((Siamang,(Bornean Orangutan,(Western Lowland Gorilla,(Bonobo,Western Chimpanzee)))Great Apes)Apes,(Proboscis Monkey,(Mandrill,Japanese Macaque))Old World Monkeys)Catarrhins)Simians)Primates)Euarchontoglires,(Egyptian Fruit Bat,((Chinese Pangolin,(((((Eurasian Lynx,(Cheetah,Cougar)),Caracal)Felines,(Clouded Leopard,((Snow Leopard, (Siberian Tiger,Bengal Tiger)Tigers),(Jaguar,(Amur Leopard,West African Lion)))Panthera)Pantherines)Cats,(Binturong,(Meerkat,(Spotted Hyena, Striped Hyena)Hyenas)Herpestoids)Viverroids)Feliforms,(((Fennec Fox,(Red Fox,Arctic Fox))Foxes,((African Wild Dog,(Dhole,(Dingo,(Timber Wolf,Arctic Wolf))Grey Wolf)),Maned Wolf)Canins)Canids,((Giant Panda,((Sun Bear,Formosan Black Bear)Black bears,(Polar Bear,(Himalayan Brown Bear,Grizzly Bear))Brown bears)Ursus)Bears,((California Sea Lion,Grey Seal)Pinnipeds,(Striped Skunk,(Red Panda,((European Badger,(Giant Otter,Asian Small-clawed Otter))Mustelids,Raccoon)))Musteloids)Mustelidans)Arctoids)Caniforms)Carnivorans)Ferans,(((Przewalski's Horse,Plains Zebra)Horses,((Malayan Tapir,Baird's Tapir)Tapirs,(Indian Rhinoceros,Southern White Rhinoceros)Rhinoceroses))Perissodactyls,((Llama,Bactrian Camel)Camelids,((Common Warthog,North Sulawesi Babirusa)Pigs,((Pygmy Hippopotamus,Hippopotamus)Hippos,((Pronghorn,(Okapi,Reticulated Giraffe))Giraffoids,(((European Fallow Deer,Red Deer),(Moose,Reindeer))Deer,(((American Bison,(Wild Water Buffalo,African Buffalo))Bovini,(Bongo,Nyala)Spiral-horned Antelope)Bovines,((Springbok,Thomson's Gazelle)Gazalles,(Nile Lechwe,((Dall Sheep,Alpine Ibex)Caprines,((Black Wildebeest,Blue Wildebeest)Wildebeest,(Sable Antelope,(Gemsbok,Scimitar-horned Oryx)Oryx)Grazing antelope))))Aegodontia)Bovids))Ruminants))Artiofabulans)Artiodactyls)Ungulates)Ferungulates)Laurasiatheria)Boreoeutherians)Placentals)Therians)Mammals)Amniotes)Vertebrates)Animals
Once the tree is generated there are various customisation options that allow you to change the shape of the tree, colour particular branches/clades and other such things.
Oh that's a great idea! I'll get started on that.
It's done, and has been added to the OP. It's kinda crazy how empty it feels compared to what we have now.
The Tree of Life has received its second update! Refer to the original post for the proper tree.
The Tropical Pack isn't really a standout DLC in regards to bringing attention to new taxonomic groups - it gives us our 3rd pig, 3rd varanid and 2nd gibbon/6th ape after all and doesn't include any members of previously unrepresented orders - but nonetheless it does include representatives for a couple new and unique families. The fossa is the much awaited first member of Eupleridae, the Malagasy carnivores, and also provides a major taxonomic boost to its region by being the first species from Madagascar that isn't a lemur. Meanwhile, the brown-throated sloth is the first species from the suborder Folivora, which includes the two families of sloths (the brown-throated being in the family Bradypodidae), and also our first addition to the order Pilosa in three years (otherwise containing only the giant anteater).
Also just as a fun fact: despite looking extremely alike to many people, the Asian water monitor is actually more closely related to the Komodo dragon than it is to the Nile monitor and their similarities are convergently evolved, probably due to occupying a similar niche on their respective continents.
The Tropical Pack isn't really a standout DLC in regards to bringing attention to new taxonomic groups - it gives us our 3rd pig, 3rd varanid and 2nd gibbon/6th ape after all and doesn't include any members of previously unrepresented orders - but nonetheless it does include representatives for a couple new and unique families. The fossa is the much awaited first member of Eupleridae, the Malagasy carnivores, and also provides a major taxonomic boost to its region by being the first species from Madagascar that isn't a lemur. Meanwhile, the brown-throated sloth is the first species from the suborder Folivora, which includes the two families of sloths (the brown-throated being in the family Bradypodidae), and also our first addition to the order Pilosa in three years (otherwise containing only the giant anteater).
Also just as a fun fact: despite looking extremely alike to many people, the Asian water monitor is actually more closely related to the Komodo dragon than it is to the Nile monitor and their similarities are convergently evolved, probably due to occupying a similar niche on their respective continents.
I'm pretty busy at the moment, but hopefully soon!
The crested porcupine is closer to the capybara than either are to the beaver or prairie dog, and the horned viper forms a pair with the puff adder. The ungulates are all where you'd expect them to be. The sand cat is actually closer to the puma and cheetah than it is to the caracal and lynx.
Definitely plan to, it’s just a bit difficult to find the time to at the moment given I’m currently in the middle of a road trip. I should be back home in around two weeks time, if not earlier.
After a bit of a delay, the PZ Tree of Life has received its third update! Refer to the original post for the proper tree.
As with the previous pack, the Arid Animal Pack was not a strong standout when it came to increasing taxonomic diversity, with only a single new family added to the game. In this case it was a particularly notable family however, Hystricidae, the Old World porcupines, represented by the ever requested African crested porcupine. As Rodentia is the largest order of mammals yet only has a few species in the game thus far, any new addition is much appreciated. All other animals in this pack belong to families that have already had at least two other species, with the horned viper, wild ass, black rhino and dromedary adding the third member to Viperidae, Equidae, Rhinocerotidae and Camelidae respectfully, whilst the sand cat and two antelopes enrich the already well-developed rosters of Felidae and Bovidae.
As with the previous pack, the Arid Animal Pack was not a strong standout when it came to increasing taxonomic diversity, with only a single new family added to the game. In this case it was a particularly notable family however, Hystricidae, the Old World porcupines, represented by the ever requested African crested porcupine. As Rodentia is the largest order of mammals yet only has a few species in the game thus far, any new addition is much appreciated. All other animals in this pack belong to families that have already had at least two other species, with the horned viper, wild ass, black rhino and dromedary adding the third member to Viperidae, Equidae, Rhinocerotidae and Camelidae respectfully, whilst the sand cat and two antelopes enrich the already well-developed rosters of Felidae and Bovidae.
Last edited:
In the bigger Tree of Life circle, pink for egg-laying mammals while red for the rest of the types of mammal and all those gave birth.Due to a combination of hype for the upcoming DLC and procrastination, I decided to spend tonight putting together an evolutionary tree of Planet Zoo's entire roster (as one does). The result is below:
Planet Zoo's Tree of Life
Purple for invertebrates, blue for amphibians, green for (non-avian) reptiles, yellow for birds and red for mammals (varying from light to dark red between monotremes, marsupials and placentals)
And Planet Zoo haven't came up with any fish species. That's the last of five types/groups of vertebrates (ones with backbones).
PZ's Tree of Life receives its fourth update with the announcement of the Oceania Pack! Refer to the original post for the proper tree.
While the last two packs have been a bit lacking in regards to bringing new taxonomic groups to the game, the Oceania Pack comes in swinging with representatives of two new orders, the first we have gotten since armadillos and butterflies in the Grasslands Animal Pack. First is the pack's headliner, the North Island brown kiwi, which sits with all other kiwis in the monogeneric order Apterygiformes. Despite ostriches and emus sharing a greater degree of similarity to each other than either does to the kiwi, the little New Zealand icons are more closely related to their fellow Oceanian ratites than any other living birds - however, they are even more closely related to the now extinct elephant birds of Madagascar, a group that could hardly be more different (meanwhile moas are entirely unrelated and are cousins of tinamou instead). The pack's co-star, the Tasmanian devil, also represents a new order, this time the significantly larger group Dasyuromorphia. This makes them the first marsupials added to the game that aren't in the herbivorous order Diprotodontia, greatly enriching the taxonomic diversity of non-placental mammals in the game.
Speaking of marsupials, the quokka bounds in as the third member of Macropodidae. Sitting in a genus all their own, they branched off early from the lineage that would eventually lead to the likes of kangaroos and typical wallabies, Macropodini (as opposed to the tree kangaroo + rock-wallaby lineage, Dendrolagini, which remains unrepresented). Spheniscidae, the penguins, also received their third species in the form of the little penguin, which is most closely related to banded penguins (including the African penguin) and shares their love of warmer waters. Finally there is the spectacled flying-fox, which rounds out the roster of the pack as the second member of the megabat family Pteropodidae.
~~~
Back in the original post, I've decided to celebrate Planet Zoo finally reaching 10 bird species (took them long enough) by dividing birds into two distinct groups on the reptile tree - palaeognaths, which for now just contain ratites (and will remain that way unless tinamou are added somehow), and neognaths, which contain all other living birds. Once we get a few more species (hopefully more neognaths besides just penguins), I'll likely split birds from the reptile tree entirely and give them one of their own.
While the last two packs have been a bit lacking in regards to bringing new taxonomic groups to the game, the Oceania Pack comes in swinging with representatives of two new orders, the first we have gotten since armadillos and butterflies in the Grasslands Animal Pack. First is the pack's headliner, the North Island brown kiwi, which sits with all other kiwis in the monogeneric order Apterygiformes. Despite ostriches and emus sharing a greater degree of similarity to each other than either does to the kiwi, the little New Zealand icons are more closely related to their fellow Oceanian ratites than any other living birds - however, they are even more closely related to the now extinct elephant birds of Madagascar, a group that could hardly be more different (meanwhile moas are entirely unrelated and are cousins of tinamou instead). The pack's co-star, the Tasmanian devil, also represents a new order, this time the significantly larger group Dasyuromorphia. This makes them the first marsupials added to the game that aren't in the herbivorous order Diprotodontia, greatly enriching the taxonomic diversity of non-placental mammals in the game.
Speaking of marsupials, the quokka bounds in as the third member of Macropodidae. Sitting in a genus all their own, they branched off early from the lineage that would eventually lead to the likes of kangaroos and typical wallabies, Macropodini (as opposed to the tree kangaroo + rock-wallaby lineage, Dendrolagini, which remains unrepresented). Spheniscidae, the penguins, also received their third species in the form of the little penguin, which is most closely related to banded penguins (including the African penguin) and shares their love of warmer waters. Finally there is the spectacled flying-fox, which rounds out the roster of the pack as the second member of the megabat family Pteropodidae.
~~~
Back in the original post, I've decided to celebrate Planet Zoo finally reaching 10 bird species (took them long enough) by dividing birds into two distinct groups on the reptile tree - palaeognaths, which for now just contain ratites (and will remain that way unless tinamou are added somehow), and neognaths, which contain all other living birds. Once we get a few more species (hopefully more neognaths besides just penguins), I'll likely split birds from the reptile tree entirely and give them one of their own.
Last edited:
This is so cool!
Extcint animal mention spotted. Here is fun fact.
Recent studies revealed that elephant birds were actually nocturnal with reduced optic lobes. Forest dwelling species relied on sense of smell to find food. Probably most of you also heard about giant eggs, which are being the largest known for any amniote.
So in fact elephant birds were just like kiwis, but big.
I love this thread and all the taxonomic explanations.PZ's Tree of Life receives its fourth update with the announcement of the Oceania Pack! Refer to the original post for the proper tree.
While the last two packs have been a bit lacking in regards to bringing new taxonomic groups to the game, the Oceania Pack comes in swinging with representatives of two new orders, the first we have gotten since armadillos and butterflies in the Grasslands Animal Pack. First is the pack's headliner, the North Island brown kiwi, which sits with all other kiwis in the monogeneric order Apterygiformes. Despite ostriches and emus sharing a greater degree of similarity to each other than either does to the kiwi, the little New Zealand icons are more closely related to their fellow Oceanian ratites than any other living birds - however, they are even more closely related to the now extinct elephant birds of Madagascar, a group that could hardly be more different (meanwhile moas are entirely unrelated and are cousins of tinamou instead). The pack's co-star, the Tasmanian devil, also represents a new order, this time the significantly larger group Dasyuromorphia. This makes them the first marsupials added to the game that aren't in the herbivorous order Diprotodontia, greatly enriching the taxonomic diversity of non-placental mammals in the game.
Speaking of marsupials, the quokka bounds in as the third member of Macropodidae. Sitting in a genus all their own, they branched off early from the lineage that would eventually lead to the likes of kangaroos and typical wallabies, Macropodini (as opposed to the tree kangaroo + rock-wallaby lineage, Dendrolagini, which remains unrepresented). Spheniscidae, the penguins, also received their third species in the form of the little penguin, which is most closely related to banded penguins (including the African penguin) and shares their love of warmer waters. Finally there is the spectacled flying-fox, which rounds out the roster of the pack as the second member of the megabat family Pteropodidae.
~~~
Back in the original post, I've decided to celebrate Planet Zoo finally reaching 10 bird species (took them long enough) by dividing birds into two distinct groups on the reptile tree - palaeognaths, which for now just contain ratites (and will remain that way unless tinamou are added somehow), and neognaths, which contain all other living birds. Once we get a few more species (hopefully more neognaths besides just penguins), I'll likely split birds from the reptile tree entirely and give them one of their own.
AwesomePZ's Tree of Life receives its fourth update with the announcement of the Oceania Pack! Refer to the original post for the proper tree.
While the last two packs have been a bit lacking in regards to bringing new taxonomic groups to the game, the Oceania Pack comes in swinging with representatives of two new orders, the first we have gotten since armadillos and butterflies in the Grasslands Animal Pack. First is the pack's headliner, the North Island brown kiwi, which sits with all other kiwis in the monogeneric order Apterygiformes. Despite ostriches and emus sharing a greater degree of similarity to each other than either does to the kiwi, the little New Zealand icons are more closely related to their fellow Oceanian ratites than any other living birds - however, they are even more closely related to the now extinct elephant birds of Madagascar, a group that could hardly be more different (meanwhile moas are entirely unrelated and are cousins of tinamou instead). The pack's co-star, the Tasmanian devil, also represents a new order, this time the significantly larger group Dasyuromorphia. This makes them the first marsupials added to the game that aren't in the herbivorous order Diprotodontia, greatly enriching the taxonomic diversity of non-placental mammals in the game.
Speaking of marsupials, the quokka bounds in as the third member of Macropodidae. Sitting in a genus all their own, they branched off early from the lineage that would eventually lead to the likes of kangaroos and typical wallabies, Macropodini (as opposed to the tree kangaroo + rock-wallaby lineage, Dendrolagini, which remains unrepresented). Spheniscidae, the penguins, also received their third species in the form of the little penguin, which is most closely related to banded penguins (including the African penguin) and shares their love of warmer waters. Finally there is the spectacled flying-fox, which rounds out the roster of the pack as the second member of the megabat family Pteropodidae.
~~~
Back in the original post, I've decided to celebrate Planet Zoo finally reaching 10 bird species (took them long enough) by dividing birds into two distinct groups on the reptile tree - palaeognaths, which for now just contain ratites (and will remain that way unless tinamou are added somehow), and neognaths, which contain all other living birds. Once we get a few more species (hopefully more neognaths besides just penguins), I'll likely split birds from the reptile tree entirely and give them one of their own.
Now:
Collared peccary - separate from the true pigs but closest to them
Takin - pairs with the ibex, knocking the Dall's sheep back
Wolverine - closest to the otters (despite being superficially more badger-ish)
Saiga - same tribe as the gazelles
Sloth bear - Furthest-out bear other than the panda
Wild boar - closest to the babirusa and red river hog (warthog a bit further out)
Wisent - pairs with the American bison
Mute swan - pairs with the peafowl (hopefully this will change a lot with both more waterfowl and more ground fowl)
Hermann's tortoise - a bit further out from the two giant tortoises
Collared peccary - separate from the true pigs but closest to them
Takin - pairs with the ibex, knocking the Dall's sheep back
Wolverine - closest to the otters (despite being superficially more badger-ish)
Saiga - same tribe as the gazelles
Sloth bear - Furthest-out bear other than the panda
Wild boar - closest to the babirusa and red river hog (warthog a bit further out)
Wisent - pairs with the American bison
Mute swan - pairs with the peafowl (hopefully this will change a lot with both more waterfowl and more ground fowl)
Hermann's tortoise - a bit further out from the two giant tortoises
That's interesting! They don't look goat like to me...