Uprooted Tree of Life
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UPROOTED TREE OF LIFE. Quercus lobata, Valley oak.
Dish Trail, Northeast of the Dish.
Owing to the widespread phenomenon of horizontal exchange of genetic material in many organisms (as opposed to vertical transmission from parent to offspring), some argue that the descent of organisms more closely resembles a jumbled network of branches rather than a tree. One notable viewpoint was written by W. Ford Doolittle "Uprooting the tree of life" ( Scientific American 282: 90-95, 2000 ).