Intracellular Flow and Nutrient Exchange
Before animals evolved circulatory and digestive systems, cells first evolved internal flow to move materials around inside themselves.
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Evolution
Archaea Diverge
Archaea are a primary branch of early life, and eukaryotes emerged from within this archaeal lineage.
Giant viruses (within Varidnaviria)
About 1 billion years ago, giant viruses evolved by “hoarding” cellular genes, expanding their genomes until they blurred the line between a simple virus and a living cell.
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Retroviruses (within Riboviria)
About 1.25 billion years ago, Retroviruses emerged by transforming “jumping genes” into infectious agents, mastering the ability to rewrite a host’s permanent genetic code.
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Monodnaviria
About 1.75 billion years ago, Monodnaviria evolved as “runaway” genetic loops (plasmids) that stole structural proteins from other viruses to become independent, single-stranded DNA parasites.
Virus: Varidnaviria
About 2.75 billion years ago, the Varidnaviria evolved a unique “Double Jelly-Roll” protein fold to build massive, diverse shells, allowing viruses to scale up from tiny parasites to “giant” viruses that mimic cells.
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Bacteriophage → Duplodnaviria
Around the time of the first bacteria, about 3.2 billion years ago and after LUCA, the Duplodnaviria evolved a high-pressure, icosahedral protein armor that turned viruses into biological syringes capable of injecting DNA into any domain of life.
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Virus: Riboviria (Early RNA replicators)
About 3.7 billion years ago, RNA virus ancestors may trace back to the RNA world, but we can’t prove whether they predate LUCA or arose just after.
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Fungal Great Split: Ascomycota & Basidiomycota
About 425 million years ago, modern fungi morphology emerges. Modern fungi are built on one ancient division.
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Bacteria Diversify: Major modern phyla
About 1.3 billion years ago, following the “Great Oxidation Event,” the bacterial world fractured into specialized lineages, creating the foundational “Ecological Cast” that still runs our planet and our bodies today.
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Bacterial Endosymbiosis: Origin of Eukaryotes
About 2 billion years ago, bacteria are added to cells and that group leads to eukaryotes. You are a walking chimera ecosystem made of an Archaea host and trillions of Bacterial power-plants.
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Bacteria Aerobic metabolism expands
~2.4–2.0 BYA → Aerobic metabolism expands Oxygen-respiring bacteria diversify Major proteobacterial radiations
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Bacteria Photosynthesis begins
About 3 billion years ago, bacteria started experimenting with photosynthesis.
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First True Bacteria
Shortly after LUCA, about 3.7 billion years ago, the first bacteria emerged.
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Fungal Survivors of Extinction
At 252 million years ago, the greatest extinction ends the world as known, fungi begin again.
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Fungal Underground Alliance
About 450 million years ago, fungi and plants have a rich dirt root alliance. Plants gave sugars, fungi gave phosphorus and minerals.
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Fungal Giants of the Devonian
About 420 million years ago, fungi stood taller than trees.
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LECA: Likely Sexual Reproduction
LECA is the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor. LECA reproduced sexually pushing the mixing of DNA back before 1.75 billion years ago.
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First True Fungi: Chytrids (and living fossils)
About 600 million years ago, chytrids live in moist and watery environments. They are living fossils in the sense they reproduce with sperm-like cells that can swim to a new area.
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