3 ms·
I wonder how often eukaryotes were created but then failed to outcompete the existing prokaryotes. Complexity often results in poorer algorithmical fit in the s
by darkerside 6y ago
I wonder how often eukaryotes were created but then failed to outcompete the existing prokaryotes. Complexity often results in poorer algorithmical fit in the short term.
- est31 6y agoIndeed. It's probably the case for every step in the evolutionary ladder. As for eukaryotes, often, evolution rewards larger size, simply because if you are larger you can't be eaten as easily, you can eat larger prey more easily, etc. Compared to prokaryotes, eukaryotes are gigantic. And they seem to cover the niche of huge lifeforms really well.
- darkerside 6y agoBut would have that been the case for the first eukaryotes? The very first might have been a similar size to its predecessor, no? I wonder how many early iterations of eukaryote might have actually been smaller, perhaps, if the organism required additional energy sources to support growth.
- koeng 6y agoSome answers here - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4011006/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4011006/ TL;DR prokaryotes can grow faster due to the structure of their genome. Also, biology doesn’t care what works best, it only cares about what works