The origin of the very first species and the start of Darwinian evolution
During the earliest evolution on earth, life probably resembled one big genetic jumble. At some time, presumably around 3.8 to 3.5 billion years before today, the very first biological species appeared – the ancestor of all life forms that developed via Darwinian evolution. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen and at Cornell University in the USA have now conceived and modelled a possible scenario by which the first defined species could have emerged from this genetic mix. The researchers proposed that before the dawn of Darwinian evolution, life fluctuated back and forth between a genetically highly mixed and a partially unmixed state. Over time, the less mixed state exhibiting a more clearly defined genetic profile became increasingly stable and eventually generated the very first species.