Evolving from a plant

[Kizzi]

Is there any evidence to suggest we evolved from plants?

Do plants have DNA like animals (incl. humans)?

So do we share x% of our DNA with any plant?

So do plants and animals share a common ancestor?

Kizzi

[Tormod]

All life as we know it has DNA. In evolutionary theory, all life on Earth is traced back to a common root, in what is called the "tree of life". Plants and animals separated a very long time ago, quite early in the history of life.

If you have the Flash plugin, here is an interesting presentation from PBS:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/ch...ime/index.html

[Biochemist]

Originally Posted by Kizzi

Is there any evidence to suggest we evolved from plants?

In fact, we have present day examples of life forms that are difficult to assign to either the animal or plant kingdom. In the United states, we call those life forms "congressmen".

[UncleAl]

Is there any evidence to suggest we evolved from plants?

You are genetically and biochemically all but indistinguishable from yeast or algae. Uncle Al suggests continued developmental emphasis on the disjoint sliver.

[IMAMONKEY!]

Well... as Tormod said... We all came from a certain little bacterium... or was it a protozoan? OH well... all i know is it was small and it was the only form of life on Earth at the time. Of course it makes you wonder... why is it not that every form of life is mobile? A plant is generally a form of life that doesnt move... well... thats not what a plant is, but plants dont usually move.

BUt why??? There are definite advantages to mobility so what caused evolution to decide to immobilize them... Overall i would say plants are far more self-sufficient than animals. But if they had mobility would they be less? Is that what we sacrificed for mobility? Self-sufficiency?

EIther way i dont think that we are much more up the evolution scale than plants. And i dont think that we evolved from plants either. Are there any plants that move? Other than a few in the ocean.


Oh by the way Biochemist. Nice burn lol...

In fact, we have present day examples of life forms that are difficult to assign to either the animal or plant kingdom. In the United states, we call those life forms "congressmen".

[Shapedoctor]

Originally Posted by IMAMONKEY!

Are there any plants that move? Other than a few in the ocean.

Plants move. Most are too slow for us to see their motion. Flytraps, sundews, sensitive plants, and probably a few other kinds of plants move fast enough to be obvious.

The thing plants don't do much is travel. The closest thing there is to a travelling plant would probably be a slime mold, and slime molds are more like fungi or even protozoans than plants.

[Boerseun]

Motion isn't such a big advantage if you've got all your resources close by.

Birds migrating to isolated landmasses without predators soon lose the ability to fly. Think Dodo's, etc. It seems that if a bird can find a valid reason to quit flying, it will.

Digging a taproot of a few tens of metres, securely anchoring yourself against the forces of nature with a taproot handily accessing some underground water source, seems to be a very successful survival strategy. You even get to bribe stupid animals to assist you in reproducing.

I think initially motion became important largely to those simple forms who discovered that the other simple forms floating around next to them constituted a handy source of energy, ready-packed in a cellular container. So, they might have grown cilia and lead the charge of the light brigade in their endeavours to become the first hunters and grazers. The sun-feeders had to devise a new strategy to escape this new danger. This is probably where the animal/plant split came from. Animals are just more efficient and expedient at obeying the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

[lindagarrette]

Originally Posted by Tormod

If you have the Flash plugin, here is an interesting presentation from PBS:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/ch...ime/index.html

Pretty good until you get to the part where panalists try to explain how an informed Christian has no trouble reconciling evolution and the Biblical story of creation.