Showing a tree that includes information about which traits/characters evolved where can provide information about how scientists study relationships — and some evidence suggests that including characters can help visitors appropriately interpret trees. However, it is important to use descriptions of characters that can be understood by your audience. You might want to include images or refer to specimens on display that highlight the specific features that evolved. However, if these don’t line up with your learning goals, if the characters are very obscure (e.g., DNA changes or unfamiliar anatomical traits), or if your tree is graphically complicated already, it may not be appropriate to include characters.

Now that you know what you want on your tree, it’s time to consider how it should be designed graphically …