AI impact on: Taxonomy?

@jnstuart Oops. Haha
Don’t you want your scalp examined Star Trek style? :O

@charlie I think if there has been panspermia, it’s quite easy (logistically) to adapt into current taxonomy as we’d basically just have to add some amount of things below LUCA, I think. Then we’d have essentially separate trees of life for each planet, all connected at the base. (Though there would have to be extensive research done on the relatedness between life of different planets, of course).

If biogenesis happened separately (which I think is more likely), we’d probably just have separate trees with a different LUCA for each. We’d have a forest of life and not a tree of life. :D
Unless taxonomists decide to go really crazy and add non-living chemical processes to the base of the trees somehow, which I doubt would ever happen (as it would probably not make a lot of sense, if it even is possible at all (plus, it could become a lot more difficult if we ever find non-carbon-based life)).

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