The autism be hittin so I made a taxonomic tree for all naturally occurring Minecraft animals
This evolutionary history is based off of the order in which mobs were added to the game, with most modern animals having evolved from the mobs that were present when the game was originally released. As such, this taxonomy is pretty much entirely divorced from reality - as I’m sure you can see lol.
The in-world explanation for this is that there was a mass extinction event (a few of the victims of which are still listed in this tree, marked with: (ex)) that wiped out most of the life throughout the realms.
This tree does not include any constructed organisms because they’re not related to any naturally occurring animals. They’re essentially derived from an entirely different origin of life - meaning they’re in no way related to the animals listed here.
This tree also does not include any undead organisms, honestly because I just haven’t fully figured out what to do with them yet. At some point I’ll figure out where they fit into this world’s natural history, but today is not that day.
This tree ALSO doesn’t include any non-animal organisms, hence why some other mobs (Wardens, Creakings) aren’t present.
Fun bonus! Originally I didn’t plan to explore any real-world animals in Minecraft (ex. wolves, cats), but this new taxonomy makes them wildly different than their earthen counterparts! So, I think I will at least make designs for many of them, since it seems fun to reconstruct a cat on wolf hardware.
A Closer Look: Vertebrates
A Closer Look: Conchosomites
If you have any questions, comments, or you want to learn more about a specific point on this tree - please send an ask! I’d be happy to answer any :)