Are All Species

Related?
 How can we determine?

 Similarities among species

 Essentially, DNA similarities

 Identifying common ancestors (if any)

History Of This Question

 Idea of a “universal common ancestor” was published by Charles

Darwin in 1858 in his book “Origin Of Species”
 The first recorded instance which suggests a relation between all
species was published in 1790 by Immanuel Kant in his book
“Critique Of Judgment”
The Evidences
 A research by Biochemist Douglas Theobald used computer models
and statistical methods calculated the odds that all species from
three main domains evolved from a common ancestor.

 The similarities in body designs of organisms points toward an answer

‘yes’.

 A study led by Dr. Jordi Paps and Peter W.H. Holland reconstructed
the genome of the “Common Ancestor” gives further proof that an
“evolutionary burst of new genes” led to the jump to multicellular
organisms.
The Common Ancestor Theory
 The evidence of common ancestor can be said also by comparing
similarities in organisms. For instance, the similarities between sea gull
and pelican in their appearance, behavior and DNA, the similar
bodies of deer, moose, horses and zebras. The argument made to
reason the differences is the habitat conditions which caused
moose to have antlers while the others don’t.
 The Domains used by Theobald are bacteria, bacteria-like microbes –
Archaea and Eukaryotes. The odds calculated were on the favor of
showing that there was a single common ancestor than groups.
 The bursts in genes would have enabled the descents of the first
species to diversify and separate into new classes, orders, family and
finally into species that we see in our present day environment.
We can note the similarities between the
sea gull and pelican in their appearances.
But the differences such as their beak
The similarities between deer,
shape and size are a result of evolution.
moose, horses and zebra can also
be noted.
SOURCES

 https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100513-
science-evolution-darwin-single-ancestor/
 "Despite all the variety among these forms, they seem to have been
produced according to a common archetype, and this analogy
among them reinforces our suspicion that they are actually akin,
produced by a common original mother.“ – Kant in “Critique Of
Judgment
 https://necsi.edu/similarities-among-living-organisms
 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/science/first-animal-genes-
evolution.html