Concept
Version 7
Created by Boundless
Evolution of Viruses

Common ancestor tree of life
This phylogenetic tree of the three domains of life (Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya) attempts to identify when various species diverged from a common ancestor. Finding a common ancestor for viruses has proven to be far more difficult, especially since they do not fossilize.
Source
Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content from around the Internet. This particular resource used the following sources:
"OpenStax College, Organizing Life on Earth. November 9, 2013."
http://cnx.org/content/m44588/latest/#fig-ch20_01_01
OpenStax CNX
CC BY 3.0.