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> All animals, plants, and fungi, belong to the latter class. But in fact there are two very distinct sorts of prokaryotes, both single celled, the bacteria and
by johnchristopher 6y ago
> All animals, plants, and fungi, belong to the latter class. But in fact there are two very distinct sorts of prokaryotes, both single celled, the bacteria and the archaea. The latter were completely unknown until the first ones were found in 1977.
Wait, I can't parse that sentence. Does it mean to say bacteria (`the first ones`) were only found in 1977 ?
- shishy 6y agoThat's how I read it too... equally confused...
- ianmcgowan 6y ago"The latter" === archaea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaea#Classification https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaea#Classification
- AndrewKemendo 6y agoLatter of the two, "Bacteria and Archaea" being Archaea "In 1977, Carl Woese, a microbiologist studying the genetic sequences of organisms, developed a new comparison method that involved splitting the RNA into fragments that could be sorted and compared with other fragments from other organisms." [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaea
- hammock 6y agoThe latter (archaea) were completely unknown until the first (archaea) were found in 1977. It's not a well-written sentence.
- jbay808 6y agoYou're the only one of (currently) four replies to correctly identify that the sentence is confusing because it's ambiguous what "first one" refers to, rather than because the GP doesn't know what archaea are or what "latter" means.
- johnchristopher 6y ago> The latter (archaea) were completely unknown until the first (archaea) were found in 1977. Aha ! Thanks. Quite frankly the rest of the article isn't easy to decipher either (but English isn't my first language). The list of beliefs/theories that could change throws me off because some statements are about some topics that I thought most were in agreement (eg: the universe is expanding) > Things will continue to change. Below I have put a few things that I think could change from now into the beginning of the next century. > - The Universe is not expanding. The cosmology list is more about fact waiting to happen that expansion of knowledge but I am just a layman.
- felbane 6y agoBy the time we experimentally confirm that the entire universe isn't expanding, we may have transitioned into the phase of universal contraction. Or something.
- dj_mc_merlin 6y agoWhat's the other interpretation of this sentence? "The latter" comes directly after an enumeration, with arachea as the last term. It seems pretty clear?
- matt_kantor 6y ago"First ones" could mean "former", as in comparison with latter: > ...the bacteria and the archaea. The latter (archaea) were completely unknown until the first ones (bacteria) were found in 1977.