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| Aggregates of abiotically produced molecules surrounded by a membrane or membrane-like structure. |
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| technique that is based on the decay of radioactive isotopes. Each radioactive isotope has a fixed rate of decay. |
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| this is the isotopes' number of years it takes for 50% of the original sample to decay, it is unaffectd by temperature, pressure, and other environmental variables. |
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| The division of Earth's history into time periods, grouped into three eras: Archaean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic, and further subdivided into eras and epochs. |
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| rocklike sturctures composed of many layers of bacteria and sediment. |
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| the only living photosynthetic prokaryotes that generate O2. |
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| How did the complex organization of the eukaryotic cell evolve from the simpler prokaryotic condition? |
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| In a process called endosymbiosis; which probably led to mitochondria and plastids. |
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| A model of the orgin of eukaryotes consisting of a sequence of endosymbiotic events in which mitochondria, chloroplasts, and perhaps other cellular structures were derived from small prokaryotes that had been engulfed by larger cells. |
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| the production of a new genome through the transfer of part of the genome of one organism to another organism. (horizontal gene transfer) |
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| collections of autonomously replicating cells. |
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| Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya; SUPERKINGDOMS, a taxonomic level higher than the kingdom level. |
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| Prokaryotes were Earth's sole inhabitants from 3.5 to about 2 billion years ago. |
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| Electron transport systems |
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| The first electron transport chains may have saved ATP by coupling the oxidation of organic acids to the transport of H+ out of the cell. |
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| By rearranging landmasses, continental drift has sifnificantly affected evolution. THe formation and subsequent breakup of hte supercontinent PANGAEA explain many biogeographic puzzles. |
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