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3D paper crafts- three symbolic images of Biohistory
Biohistory Emaki
You can find many living and extinct creatures in the fan-shaped frame. The drawing illustrates the history and diversity of life. The center of the fan denotes the birth of life on earth 3.8 billion years ago. Since that time, evolution has given rise to diverse species, and the outer rim of the fan represents the creatures living in the world today.
3D Biohistory Emaki
3D Biohistory Emaki represents milestone events in the history of biological evolution as a stairway ascending from simple to complex creatures , including the emergence of eukaryotes, the Cambrian explosion, the transition of marine life to terrestrial habitats, and the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Biohistory New Emaki
Here, history is shown in horizontal layers, representing the flow of geologic time. At the bottom of the picture is the birth of earth and the present day is at the top. In the circles, the evolution of earth is shown across the ages . This work of art is drawn by Makoto Wada.
3D Biohistory New Emaki
The 3D Biohistory New Emaki displays the five mass extinction events as a staircase. The creatures lost in each extinction event are depicted on the steps of the stairs.
Biohistory Mandala
The biological organization of life is mapped onto concentric circles, from the cellular level in the center to the ecological level at the circumference. The DNA in the cellular genome is found in the center, from where it penetrates all levels.
3D Biohistory Mandala
The 3D Biohistory Mandala shows the hierarchy of life, such as cells, tissues, organs, organisms, and ecosystems as layers at different depths. You can decorate the hierarchy with the DNA of the genome that penetrates all levels and imagine how the genome has evolved in living systems.
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.