Question

Summarize the similarities and differences between the major branches of the tree of life, highlighting the major groups in each domain and kingdom. Your answer should be tied to the evolutionary aspect of this topic.

25 points

Answer 1

Homosapiens: Humanity collectively is currently the apex predator due to the evolutionary advantages of opposable thumbs allowing us to use tools (grasp things) and superior intellect which allowed us to create those tools in the first place. The main difference between humanity and the rest of the animal kingdom is our use of complex language and communication, animals do have ways of communicating but none of them are as complex and accurate as human language. Humans also have a concept of time, and self-awareness unlike most animals, and the ability to question our existence is a defining trait - to be able to domesticate other animals and lead lives not only for survival but for self progression and indulgence (pleasure). Omnivores that can survive off animals or plants.

Animals: Can display intelligence on smaller scales, but are mostly instinctual creatures with a focus primarily on survival, and reproduction. You probably won't see an animal with a tool, unless perhaps you have an incredibly intelligent ape on your hands, but they don't have the same capacity for thought as humanity. They constantly fight to survive, with many predatory relationships driving the circle of life. Carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores - a wide range of diets there.

Fungi: The decomposers that take care of most of the worlds waste, at least in non-industrialized areas, they live off dead organisms (gross), and despite looking and acting similar to plants are extremely different. The main difference is that they cannot produce their own food.

Plants: Aside from water, plants are the source for all life, without plants fungi starve and die, herbivores starve and die, carnivores starve and die, then humans starve and die. Plants produce their own food using sunlight and soil nutrients. Pretty much the only autonomous and self-sustaining living organism on the planet, that we've found yet. (Wouldn't it be lovely to live off sunlight?) Plants are the basic of the basic necessity for everything following to survive. Plants came before all multi-cellular organisms, disregarding the first bacterias.

Answer 2

Please see below.

Step-by-step explanation:

The tree of life has three main domains: Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryota.

Only Eukaryota has a nucleus, organelles and multicelled organisms. Bacteria and Archaea are all single-celled and devoid of a nucleus. Their genetic material is free in the cytoplasm. Because of this, Bacteria and Archaea are considered prokaryotes. However, Archaea are more closely related to Eukaryotes. Some bacteria, the Cyanobacteria or blue-green bacteria, are able to photosynthesize.

Some Archaea are able to live in extreme environments like high salinity or high temperature. Some are able to live in the gut of some herbivores or in anaerobic mud but they may also live in less extreme places.

The domain Eukaryota is split in four kingdoms: Protists, Plants, Fungi and Animals.

Protists are single celled and are not a natural group. Rather they are now considered a mix of unrelated unicellular organisms that are independently more related to the other kingdoms than among themselves.

Plants are photosynthetic organisms and dominate the land environments. A handful may be found in the sea but not in such a dominant way.

Fungi may look like plants but they are more closely related to animals. Like them, they are not photosynthetic.

Animals are very diverse multi-celled organisms and are unable to produce their own food. Vertebrates are animals that have an internal backbone and invertebrates commonly have an exoskeleton.