Overall, these pages are focused at the general public and not the microbiology science community. The Tree of Life is an ambitious project presenting the diversity of life as Web pages in a phylogenetic tree-based structure. The project is spearheaded by David Maddison and Wayne Maddison of the University of Arizona and relies on subject experts to contribute Web pages about individual groups of organisms. Currently, there are 1,270 pages with information, references, pictures, maps of habitat ranges, and sound files. There is a root page, and one can move up or down phylogenetic branches by linking to subsequent pages.
Some branches have extensive information.
For example, the highly informative frog pages even have downloadable files of chirps. Other branches have only a skeleton structure. For both, there are micrographs and information on physiology, life cycle, habitat, and evolution. The Crenarchaeota page contains striking pictures of the hot springs where Crenarchaeota live. The Tree of Life has the potential to be a powerful educational tool for microbiologists.