Our first study at BRH concerned the phylogenetic relationships and evolution of ground beetles (family Carabidae). One surprising result is that the distribution of this insect tells us much about the formation of the Japanese archipelago ( exhibit: A beetle’s crawl through history). And so, to commemorate our 10th anniversary, we created Biohistory New Emaki to depict the historical development of biodiversity on our planet together with contemporaneous changes in the global environment.

Integrating the three expressions of Biohistory

Biohistory Emaki, Biohistory New Emaki, and Biohistory Mandala --these three expressions of life each commemorate a decade in the activities of the JT Biohistory Research Hall. We brought them together to create this, a conical expression of the whole. The conic axis is indicative of time; and the horizontal rays emanating from it, of hierarchy. And, spanning both time and hierarchy are the genomes of living creatures.