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The Tree of Life Consolidates

Posted by kdawson on from the pruning-it dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "The Tree of Life is an expression first used by Charles Darwin to describe the diversity of organisms on Earth and their evolutionary history. There are only two life forms, — eukaryotes, which gather their genetic material in a nucleus, and prokaryotes, such as bacteria, which have their genetic material floating freely in the cell. Until recently, eukaryotes, which include humans, were divided into five groups. But now, based on work by European researchers, the Tree of Life has lost a branch. After doing the largest ever genetic comparison of life forms they concluded that there are only four groups of eukaryotes."

10 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. Oops, my bad by sm62704 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I should be more careful with that chainsaw. Poor tree, only 5 branches , I hope it survives...

    --
    mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
    1. Re:Oops, my bad by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 2, Funny

      Dude, just graft on a branch from the tree of insanity. Nobody will notice the difference.

      --
      Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  2. First we lose pluto and now we lose this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What else will science rob from us before we decide enough is enough?

  3. Re:At the risk of being called a Tao-rrorist... by KublaiKhan · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is only a second-order approximation, at best, for the real Tao.

    --
    In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
    A stately pleasure dome decree
  4. But the circle of life... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny
    ...stays the same:
    • Born, Live, Read /., Die
    Non-geeks, substitute "Read /." with "Move Out" and "Have Sex".
    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  5. Re:Science is a moving target by A+beautiful+mind · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is precisely why we believe in the guy up in the clouds who pulls the strings behind the curtains!

    Oh wait...

    --
    It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
    Be yourself no matter what they say
  6. Re:Taxonomy especially is inexact. by Tailsfan · · Score: 2, Funny

    THis will really screw up my AP Bio.

  7. The Undiscovered by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    They haven't tested Cheney yet, we'll be back to 5 types if Congress does its job.

  8. No! by waveformwafflehouse · · Score: 4, Funny

    4 supergroups? Wait, did Journey break up? Who stopped believing!

  9. Re:Three levels of truth (maybe more...) by gardyloo · · Score: 2, Funny

    Aren't all those "you can't eat this or that" rules abolished in the New Testament? I like to think of it as a slightly newer release candidate.