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Discussions about classifying the domains of life aside, this article implies that there was, or could have been entire domains that are now extinct. Is this t

Discussions about classifying the domains of life aside, this article implies that there was, or could have been entire domains that are now extinct. Is this the case?

andrewflnr 2y ago
That's really hard to answer without tackling the classification question head on. Do you mean groups that "would have" been considered a domain if humans had been around at the time? Or groups that are in some sense different from other domains to the same degree those domains are from each other? Whether we tag something as a domain also depends on its abundance and/or visibility. I bet if you take dug into microorganisms, you'd find tons that are as different from plants and animals as plants and animals are fun each other. But they all tend to get lumped in as "protists" or something because... we kinda don't care. I wouldn't be surprised if we somehow found out there were a lot of extinct critters in equivalent situations.
- hydrogen7800 2y ago
  In my draft reply, I was going to add "is this even the right question", meaning "is the taxonomy more of a human construct than a natural one". It seems the answer is yes. >Or groups that are in some sense different from other domains to the same degree those domains are from each other? This.
  - andrewflnr 2y ago
    I'm not a biologist, and especially not a microbiologist, so you should take what I say with a decent chunk of salt. That said, microbes are so wildly diverse that that version of the question sounds a lot like "are there any big extinct clades of microbes", which, I don't know, microbes are pretty persistent. But probably. As for macroscopic life, there are some Ediacaran critters like rangeomorphs and tribrachidium that (to my knowledge) are not conclusively associated with any existing domain. So who knows about those guys.
tremon 2y ago
Depends on how wide your definition on "domain" is. Most of the dinosaur lineages have gone extinct, it's not too wild an assumption to assume the same is true for entire lineages of other species. So the safe answer to your question is "probably, yes".

Discussions about classifying the domains of life aside, this article implies that there was, or could have been entire domains that are now extinct. Is this the case?

andrewflnr 2y ago

That's really hard to answer without tackling the classification question head on. Do you mean groups that "would have" been considered a domain if humans had been around at the time? Or groups that are in some sense different from other domains to the same degree those domains are from each other? Whether we tag something as a domain also depends on its abundance and/or visibility. I bet if you take dug into microorganisms, you'd find tons that are as different from plants and animals as plants and animals are fun each other. But they all tend to get lumped in as "protists" or something because... we kinda don't care. I wouldn't be surprised if we somehow found out there were a lot of extinct critters in equivalent situations.

hydrogen7800 2y ago
In my draft reply, I was going to add "is this even the right question", meaning "is the taxonomy more of a human construct than a natural one". It seems the answer is yes. >Or groups that are in some sense different from other domains to the same degree those domains are from each other? This.
- andrewflnr 2y ago
  I'm not a biologist, and especially not a microbiologist, so you should take what I say with a decent chunk of salt. That said, microbes are so wildly diverse that that version of the question sounds a lot like "are there any big extinct clades of microbes", which, I don't know, microbes are pretty persistent. But probably. As for macroscopic life, there are some Ediacaran critters like rangeomorphs and tribrachidium that (to my knowledge) are not conclusively associated with any existing domain. So who knows about those guys.

tremon 2y ago

Depends on how wide your definition on "domain" is. Most of the dinosaur lineages have gone extinct, it's not too wild an assumption to assume the same is true for entire lineages of other species. So the safe answer to your question is "probably, yes".