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I've been trying to make a phylogenetic tree (an evolutionary diagram that uses "branches" to explain how species are related) of most major life on earth and it's getting very large. I'd prefer to make it a digital document so I don't have to waste so much paper and in case I get a branch wrong I don't have to erase everything. Also I feel the final product would look much nicer on a computer if I can color-code it and include images, and if I do it on paper it would take longer and I'd have to make multiple trees.

I've searched high and low and I'm convinced there's no program used by the scientific community like this because when they make their own phylogenetic trees to publish, they use alignment tools to tell how related different genetic sequences are and the tool assembles the tree for them. I just want a program that lets me make a simple tree where I can add or delete branches wherever I want, then maybe customize how it looks so it's pretty.

I have some coding experience with C++, but I'm not willing to put in a ton of time to understanding new coding techniques, so if there's anything that requires light coding that would work.

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  • Did you consider any MindMap software? – Emaro Oct 7 '20 at 9:43
  • I didn't consider that until I saw your comment. I looked for mind mapping software today, but many of them seem to have a common problem of requiring a name at every node. This is a problem for me because I don't have names for many groups with a common ancestor, but I want to still show in what order they are related. If you look up "phylogeny" on Google you'll notice a lot of trees don't have names at the nodes and typically include the names of groups or species at the smallest branches. Do you know of any program without this problem? Thank you. – Andrew Oct 7 '20 at 19:16
  • Actually, never mind I think I can just put in spaces to make a blank node. I like how mindmup looks so I'll use that. It's still not exactly the look I want but it works. Thank you! – Andrew Oct 8 '20 at 16:24
  • You're welcome. If it fits your needs, you get answer your own questions with that. – Emaro Oct 9 '20 at 5:43

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