Lynn Margulis was a huge proponent of the idea that speciation happens mostly via symbiogenesis and cross-species gene transfer as opposed to natural selection.

Lynn Margulis was a huge proponent of the idea that speciation happens mostly via symbiogenesis and cross-species gene transfer as opposed to natural selection. This virus-like cell, while admittedly still not well understood, seems like the kind of thing she would point to as an example of different forms of life merging to create new higher-level lifeforms.