Breakthrough gives insight into early complex life on Earth

Japanese team spent 12 years on the project after digging up deep-sea mudFor the first 2 billion years, life on Earth comprised two microbial kingdoms – bacteria and archaea. They featured an innumerable and diverse variety of species, but, ultimately, life on Earth was not that exciting judged by today’s standards.Then, the theory goes, a rogue archaeon gobbled up a bacterium to create an entirely new type of cell that would go on to form the basis of all complex life on Earth, from plants to humans.Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - January 15, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Hannah Devlin Science correspondent Tags: Evolution Biology Science Source Type: news