Why did anything evolve beyond bacteria?

Question

Bacteria were pretty much the first organism around and they've always been the best organism at reproduction.

If natural selection essentially chooses mutated traits that improve an organisms ability to reproduce, then why did anything evolve beyond bacteria.

Answer 1

Teamwork.

When single-celled creatures began to work together to accomplish the same thing, such as greater mobility or the need to break down food into digestable mass, their greater efficiency allowed them to reproduce more effectively. Eventually, symbiotic relationships developed where groups of dissimilar bacterium and/or single-celled organisms could live and reproduce at an ever greater rate.

They became multi-celled, and did even better...

Here's something for you to consider- the organs inside your body are assembled from similar cells. A liver cell is different from a kidney cell, which is different from a brain cell. These different cells work together for a common purpose - survival and reproduction in a most-efficient manner.

...single cells, working together to improve their chances of reproducing...

So, if you look in the mirror, you'll see the answer to your question. Your body is a zoo containing many different types of cells, working independently yet contributing to a common purpose. They're all connected and fed by...single cells (blood cells) also independent, and also working toward a common goal.

Why is this so hard for some people to contemplate, or accept?

Science is providing the answers that were not available before.

When these answers were not available, the questions were still asked...so religion provided the answers.

It seems so easy to understand...it's all written in history and science, yet people still prefer to believe the 'magic' explanation...which, of course, is different depending on which 'magician' you choose to worship.

Scientists all over the world seem to agree on a wide variety of proven topics- most of which have been researched in the last 200 years.

Religious fanatics all over the world cannot agree on anything, and they've been researching for over 2,000 years.

Who do you really think has it right?

Answer 2

Bacteria has been around for billions of years because it is, as you say, very good at survival and reproduction. It makes up most of life, it's been around the longest. But then, it's not the only thing good at surviving and reproducing. As long as a mutation gives a creature a slight advantaged for surviving in the niche it finds and it reproduces then it will survive. There's a lot of competition among the bacteria. So something that evolves to compete somewhat differently can have an advantage, survive and reproduce. Bacteria, for instance, are bounteous. So something that evolves to be bigger than bacteria and eat bacteria is likely to do well.

Answer 3

Natural selection does not choose mutations... mutations are random... and these mutations either help or hinder the organism's chance at survival and reproduction...

If the mutation helps the oganism cope in tyhe world, the trait will be passed on. If it hurts his chances, then the organism will die out.

There is no concious selection by nature or anyone else involved.

Answer 4

Bacteria are not the best organism at reproduction in all cases. Can a bacteria survive in the air, like a bird?`

Answer 5

From what I understand, it's more of an organism's ability to survive to reproduce. And looking at them individually... lots of things are better able to survive for longer periods of time than bacteria.

Answer 6

With enough bacteria around competition increases. If an organism evolves into something with a different environment, food source, etc. it increases its chances of survival.

Answer 7

I don't know why anything evolved beyond bacteria, but I think we can all agree that it was a pretty bad idea, in the first place.

Answer 8

The fact that they are still around is testimony to their success. All the multicellular organisms depend on the bacteria for their very existence--mitochondria and chloroplasts are bacteria.

Answer 9

My personal opinion...

There is mountains of evidence to support evolutoin from ape to man. There is very LITTLE evidence to support evolution before this point. So...I dunno.

I guess its not too far fetched that one amino acid would join with another...happens all the time. Then the two would join with a third...and another and another until a protein formed. This probably happened trillions of times. Protiens mix...99.9999999% of the time nothing happens. But something only has to happen once and life begins.

I still can't figure out how we can go from that to a single cell with complex DNA and RNA and an entire life factory amongst itself, not to mention trillions of them working in harmony to create a human. But hey, we go with the evidence we got.

Anyone who tells you they know for sure is full of it.

Answer 10

I don't know, but I know it happens, I swear the thing in my fridge may have started as bacteria, but it is breathing now lol.