Life on Earth had to begin somewhere, and scientists think that “somewhere” is LUCA—or the Last Universal Common Ancestor.

Luca’s ecosystem might have induced more diversity than could have arisen by conventional Darwinian evolution Luca probably “did not live alone”, says Lenton. By making complex organic ...

This ancient organism’s characteristics, age, and ecological role offer critical insights into the early evolution of life on Earth. LUCA is estimated to have existed approximately 4.2 billion ...

First, he had traced the evolution of cellular life directly ... These results provided strong evidence that the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all cellular life really existed, although ...

Now, we don't know what LUCA looked like. We don't know precisely ... It's these changes to DNA, are billions of years, that have led to the evolution of new life forms, and driven the magnificent ...

A: archaea; B: bacteria; E: eukaryote; LUCA: last universal common ancestor ... possibility of rampant gene transfer at early stages of evolution, so distinct lineages of descent might not have ...