Number of species in the collection: 4651.
Domains:
Archaea (Group of unicellular microorganisms without nucleus)
Bacteria (Group of the bacterias)
Eukaryota (Group of the organisms with nucleus in the cells, as animals, plants, ...)
Pictures of Living Organisms:
Characteristics of Living Organisms:
The life is a concept that is challenging to define, but it is the property that
distinguishes matter with biological processes and self-sustainability from
matter without them. Evidence suggests that life has existed on Earth for at
least 3,770-4,280 million years, with estimates indicating it emerged around
4,350 million years ago. Throughout this time, most major lineages of living
organisms have gone extinct, contributing to the homogenization of the
biological characteristics of currently known organisms. Nowadays, all diversity
can be grouped into three major domains: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukaryota. The
Eukaryota domain, the only one containing macroscopic organisms such as animals
and plants, originated from a lineage of Archaea that experienced an
endosymbiosis with a species of Bacteria, forming combined genomes that gifted
these organisms with new metabolic capabilities.
Below is a phylogenetic reconstruction of the three major lineages that comprise
life:
Living Organisms