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The History of Life on Earth: Theories and Perspectives on the Origin and Evolution of Life

Explore the captivating journey of life from the Big Bang to the emergence of complex organisms. This comprehensive guide delves into the Big Bang theory, prebiotic Earth conditions, Oparin's hypothesis, the Iron-World hypothesis, and the evolution of Earth's atmosphere. Discover the origin of life through endosymbiosis theory and unravel the mysteries of life's development amidst catastrophes and adaptive radiations. Uncover the enigmatic timeline of geological events shaping life on Earth.

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The History of Life on Earth: Theories and Perspectives on the Origin and Evolution of Life

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  1. History of Life on Earth Theories and Ideas on How Life Began and What Has Happened Since

  2. From Nothing to Everything?

  3. The Big Bang: Earth’s Prehistory

  4. The Big Bang: Earth’s Prehistory • The Big Bang Theory is the dominant scientific theory about the origin of the universe. • Created the universe between 10 billion and 20 billion years ago • Cosmic explosion hurled matter in all directions

  5. The Prebiotic Earth: First Billion Years

  6. The Prebiotic Earth: First Billion Years • In order for life to exist on Earth, four requirements must have existed: • Presence of chemical building blocks • Source of energy • Little or no free oxygen • Time • Major elements found in living things: • C, H, O, N, P, S

  7. Oparin’s Hypothesis

  8. Oparin’s Hypothesis • 1930s - Alexander Oparin hypothesized that life began between 3.9 to 3.5 billion years ago. • Simple organic molecules containing carbon formed • Energy from the sun, lightning, and earth's heat triggered chemical reactions • Organized by chance into complex organic molecules • 1952 - Miller-Urey Experiment • Simulated conditions on Earth ~4 billion years ago • Experiment made some of the fundamental building blocks of life • This suggests that these can form naturally • Still flaws with the experiment though

  9. Iron-World Hypothesis

  10. Iron-World Hypothesis • Suggests that life began in deep-cracks in the Earth’s deep ocean floor • Lab experiments show production of simple organic compounds

  11. Evolution of Oxygen Contentof Earth’s Atmosphere

  12. The Origin of Life on Earth

  13. The Origin of Life on Earth • Life began in the sea as single-celled organisms • Life develops into more complex forms through gradual evolution • Early organisms had no hard parts to leave fossil

  14. Geological Time Scale

  15. Catastrophes? That’s Normal!

  16. Catastrophes? That’s Normal! • Life on Earth has been punctuated by catastrophes • Catastrophes cause ecosystems to collapse and species become extinct • Adaptive radiation occurs following mass extinction

  17. Endosymbiosis Theory

  18. Endosymbiosis Theory • Theory suggests that prokaryotes (simple cells) gave rise to the first eukaryotes (more complex cells) • Bigger prokaryotic cell engulfed smaller heterotrophic prokaryotic cell • Prokaryotic cell became dependent on host cell, which received more ATP production

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