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“Imperfections and oddities” in the origin of the nucleus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Lynn Margulis
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003. E-mail: [email protected]
Michael F. Dolan
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003. E-mail: [email protected]
Jessica H. Whiteside
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. Palisades, New York 10964. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

We outline a plausible evolutionary sequence that led from prokaryotes to the origin of the first nucleated cell. The nucleus is postulated to evolve after the archaebacterium and eubacterium merged to form the symbiotic ancestor of amitochondriate protists. Descendants of these amitochondriate cells (archaeprotists) today thrive in organic-rich anoxic habitats where they are amenable to study. Eukaryosis, the origin of nucleated cells, occurred by the middle Proterozoic Eon prior to the deposition in sediments of well-preserved microfossils such as Vandalosphaeridium and the spiny spheres in the Doushantou cherts of China.

Type
Macroevolutionary Patterns within and among Clades
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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References

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