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No it's not a tree. It's more like a graph. Some branches split and merge again later. Species are not well defined neither (or, if you prefer, there are plenty
by toolslive 8y ago
No it's not a tree. It's more like a graph.
Some branches split and merge again later. Species are not well defined neither (or, if you prefer, there are plenty of competing definitions)
- BurningFrog 8y agoWhat's an example of species merging?
- matt4077 8y agoThey really don't, at least not in a way where their genomes would mix in equal parts, or be concatenated. The closest to merging is probably mitochondria, which probably were single-cell creatures ingested by some very early (single-celled) ancestor of us and, instead of being devoured, ended up in a symbiotic relationship within its host. The mitochondria to this day have their own genome and function a lot like a cell-within-a-cell. Same for plants and photosynthesis.