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RetNet56
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04 Oct 2010, 7:57 am

Of cousins? Assuming they all came from a single original lifeform, which is not certain.



wavefreak58
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04 Oct 2010, 8:05 am

As in the Gaia (sp?) Hypothesis? Or just distant cousins by virtue of our common ancestry?

I personally don't think there was one 'first organism'. I suspect that the conditions that were suitable for the spawning of life likely invoked multiple entities that began the competition of evolution with all due haste.



ruveyn
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04 Oct 2010, 8:25 am

RetNet56 wrote:
Of cousins? Assuming they all came from a single original lifeform, which is not certain.


Yes and no. We all have the same kind of DNA in common but the frequency of genes differs from one species to another. An a broad sense all living things on this planet are related.

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takemitsu
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04 Oct 2010, 10:52 am

I've got horses in my family.


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05 Oct 2010, 1:19 am

Depends on how you define 'family.'
And it's the theory of evolution, not the Gaia hypothesis.



NeantHumain
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05 Oct 2010, 10:04 pm

Unless life started more than once independently, all life currently in existence on Earth is ultimately descended from a single common ancestor.



ruveyn
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06 Oct 2010, 2:49 am

NeantHumain wrote:
Unless life started more than once independently, all life currently in existence on Earth is ultimately descended from a single common ancestor.


Or a viable amalgamation of few very early ancestor organisms.

We are the end product of a 3.5 billion year process on this planet.

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