In this episode I want to introduce you to someone. Actually, this someone is a thing, and this thing wiggled its way through life between two to four billion years ago.
Listener, meet LUCA. Your Last Universal Common Ancestor.
LUCA, meet your descendant.
Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.
Works Cited
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“Big Data and Science | William F Martin.” YouTube, uploaded by Casina Pio IV, 31 Jan. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw0S8C0Dc3w.
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Cooper, Keith. “Looking for LUCA, the Last Universal Common Ancestor.” Phys.Org, 18 Dec. 2018, phys.org/news/2018-12-luca-universal-common-ancestor.html.
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Daley, Jason. “Behold LUCA, the Last Universal Common Ancestor of Life on Earth.” Smithsonian Magazine, 26 July 2016, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/behold-luca-last-universal-common-ancestor-life-earth-180959915.
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Ghosh, By Pallab. “Scientists Find ‘Oldest Human Ancestor.’” BBC News, 30 Jan. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38800987.
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Griffin, Andrew. “Scientists Find Luca, a Single-Cell, Bacterium-like Organism That Is the Common Ancestor of All Life on Earth.” The Independent, 27 July 2016, www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-find-luca-single-cell-bacterium-organism-common-ancestor-all-life-earth-a7157176.html.
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Page, Michael Le. “Universal Ancestor of All Life on Earth Was Only Half Alive.” New Scientist, www.newscientist.com/article/2098564-universal-ancestor-of-all-life-on-earth-was-only-half-alive. Accessed 6 Mar. 2021.
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“Researchers May Have Solved Origin-of-Life Conundrum.” Science | AAAS, 10 Dec. 2017, www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/03/researchers-may-have-solved-origin-life-conundrum.
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Wade, Nicholas. “Meet Luca, the Ancestor of All Living Things.” The New York Times, 25 July 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/science/last-universal-ancestor.html.
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Wikipedia contributors. “Last Universal Common Ancestor.” Wikipedia, 24 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_universal_common_ancestor.
Music in this Episode
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“Marty Gots A Plan by Kevin MacLeod, Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4992-marty-gots-a-plan, License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Intuit by Kevin MacLeod, Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3922-intuit, License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Magic Scout Cottages by Kevin MacLeod, Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4672-magic-scout-cottages, License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Spy Glass by Kevin MacLeod, Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4410-spy-glass, License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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