Primate phylogenetic tree with divergence times
A primate evolutionary tree showing humans and other apes. Divergence times are TimeTree 5 medians in millions of years. Kumar et al., 2022
Phylogenetic Tree Maker
FigranPaste a Newick tree or build a cladogram from traits, then download it as SVG or PNG.
- Newick, NEXUS or outline
- Rectangular, circular or unrooted
- Free SVG and PNG
Select a branch or label to root, rotate, collapse or highlight.
Phylogenetic tree and cladogram examples
Start with a simple phylogenetic tree below. Topologies follow the cited studies. Values marked illustrative are for demonstration only.
Phylogenetic tree of life: three domains
A simplified tree of life diagram with three domains. Many newer studies place eukaryotes within Archaea; unresolved groups are drawn as polytomies. Woese et al., 1990 · Williams et al., 2013
Animal phylogenetic tree
A simplified phylogenetic tree of animals. Ctenophores are left out because the earliest animal split is disputed. Dunn et al., 2014
Plant cladogram from a trait table
A classroom phylogenetic tree of plants based on embryos, vascular tissue, seeds and flowers. Moss represents bryophytes; phylogenomics groups mosses, liverworts and hornworts together. One Thousand Plant Transcriptomes Initiative, 2019
Mammal phylogenetic tree with bootstrap values
Illustrative valuesBranch lengths and bootstrap values are illustrative; the placental base is drawn as a polytomy because it is unresolved. Topology: Murphy et al., 2001 · Meredith et al., 2011
Unrooted phylogenetic tree of coronaviruses
Illustrative valuesRaTG13 is the closest known relative of SARS-CoV-2 shown here. Branch lengths are illustrative; betacoronavirus subgenera form a polytomy. ICTV, 2020 · Zhou et al., 2020
Cladogram vs phylogenetic tree
These types of phylogenetic trees differ in what their branch lengths represent.
| Tree type | What branch lengths mean | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Cladogram | Branching order only | Shared ancestry and classroom traits |
| Phylogram | Amount of change, such as substitutions per site | Inferred trees with evolutionary distances |
| Time tree (ultrametric) | Time; present-day tips align | Dated divergences |
How to read a phylogenetic tree
Parts of a phylogenetic tree
- 1. Root
- The ancestral end of a rooted tree.
- 2. Node (common ancestor)
- A split representing a shared ancestor.
- 3. Branch
- A lineage; length may represent change or time.
- 4. Tip (taxon)
- A sampled species or other terminal group.
- 5. Clade
- An ancestor and all its descendants.
- 6. Sister taxa
- Two groups sharing an immediate common ancestor.
- 7. Outgroup
- A lineage outside the group of interest, used for rooting.
- 8. Support value
- Evidence for a branch, such as a bootstrap percentage.
- 9. Scale bar
- The distance represented by a stated line length.
Relatedness is read from the most recent common ancestor, not from which tips sit next to each other; rotating branches around a node does not change the tree. A polytomy has more than two descendant branches.
Monophyletic, paraphyletic and polyphyletic groups
A monophyletic group, or clade, contains an ancestor and all of its descendants.
How to make a cladogram from a trait table
1List the taxa
Choose an outgroup that lacks the derived traits.
2Mark each trait
Use 1 for present and 0 for absent.
3Group shared traits
The trait shared by the most taxa forms the outermost group.
4Mark the branches
Mark each trait where it first appears.
| Taxon | Vertebral column | Hinged jaws | Four limbs | Amnion | Hair |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancelet | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lamprey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bass | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frog | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Turtle | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Leopard | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
How to make a phylogenetic tree
- inferred-tree.treefile
(Mouse:0.18, (Human:0.08, Chimpanzee:0.08):0.10);
1Infer and export
Infer the tree from aligned sequences in MEGA, IQ-TREE, RAxML-NG or BEAST, and export Newick or NEXUS.
- Selected outgroupRectangularSlantedCircularUnrooted
2Root and style
Paste it, root on the outgroup, and choose a layout and support threshold.
- PNGphylogenetic-tree.png300 DPI
3Download the figure
Download SVG or PNG; state the method, support type and scale unit in the legend.
Phylogenetic tree FAQ
What is a phylogenetic tree?
A phylogenetic tree, also called an evolutionary tree or phylogeny, is a diagram of evolutionary relationships. A phylogenetic tree diagram represents common ancestry through its branching pattern; a cladogram emphasizes branching order without assigning meaning to branch lengths.
What is the Newick format?
Newick represents nested groups with parentheses and commas. A colon introduces a branch length, and a semicolon ends the tree. This Newick tree viewer also reads the TREES block of a NEXUS file. For example: ((A:0.1,B:0.2):0.05,C:0.3); Underscores in labels display as spaces, and numbers on internal nodes are read as support values. Without a Newick file, enter an indented list in Outline to draw a taxonomy tree.
Can it build a tree from DNA sequences?
No. It draws a tree you supply; it does not align sequences or infer a neighbor joining or maximum likelihood tree. Use MEGA, IQ-TREE, RAxML-NG, BEAST or MrBayes for inference, then paste the exported Newick.
How do I root a tree with an outgroup or at the midpoint?
For rooted and unrooted trees, select the outgroup branch and choose Root here. Midpoint root places the root halfway along the longest tip-to-tip path and requires branch lengths. Support values follow their original branch bipartitions when the root moves.
How do I show bootstrap values or posterior probabilities?
Turn on Support values and set Show at or above. The default is 70 for percentages or 0.7 when all values are at most 1. IQ-TREE dual labels, such as 80.5/95, retain both values and use the first for filtering.
Can I make a circular or unrooted tree?
Yes. Choose Circular to draw a circular phylogenetic tree, or Unrooted for an equal-angle view without a privileged root direction.
How is this different from iTOL, FigTree or ggtree?
iTOL is an online viewer and annotation service with annotation datasets; saving requires an account. FigTree is a Java desktop program often used with BEAST trees. ggtree is an R package for scripted figures. This tool draws in your browser without installation; it does not provide annotation datasets or heatmaps.
Can I edit the tree in PowerPoint or Illustrator?
Insert the SVG into PowerPoint or Word, where Microsoft 365 can convert it to editable shapes. The SVG keeps labels as text, so it also opens in Illustrator, Inkscape or Affinity Designer.
Is this phylogenetic tree generator free, and is my tree private?
Yes. Drawing and downloads are free and need no login. Trees are drawn in your browser and are not uploaded; your draft is kept only in this browser tab. Edit in canvas needs a free account. A temporary copy passes the tree to the canvas and is deleted when the canvas opens it; unused copies expire after 30 minutes and are cleared the next time you open this tool, or if the canvas tries to open an expired copy. The canvas keeps its working draft in this browser. Saving uploads the tree to your account, and exporting sends it to our server. If you use the canvas AI assistant, the figure’s content is sent to our AI provider to answer your request.
Ready to draw your tree?
Paste your Newick or load an example, then download the figure.