Prokaryota

A prokaryote, less commonly spelled procaryote, is a cellular organism that lacks a distinct cell nucleus or other membrane-bound organelles. In the earlier two-empire system, prokaryotes formed the empire Prokaryota; in the current three-domain system, based upon molecular phylogenetics, prokaryotes are divided into two domains Bacteria and Archaea. A third domain, Eukaryota, which consists of single- and multi-cellular organisms with nuclei, organelles and complex cellular architecture, is sometimes considered a clade under Archaea in the two-domain system.

A picture published with the record for Prokaryota. What it shows has not been checked.

This vector image is completely made by Ali Zifan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
LifePBDB

Time the record covers

At least 3197 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3200 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 3600 Mya to 774 ka.

Cambrian — about 361 of 2869 occurrencesOrdovician — about 229 of 2869 occurrencesSilurian — about 77 of 2869 occurrencesDevonian — about 319 of 2869 occurrencesCarboniferous — about 141 of 2869 occurrencesPermian — about 137 of 2869 occurrencesEarly Triassic — about 2 of 2869 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 78 of 2869 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 192 of 2869 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 6 of 2869 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 16 of 2869 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 152 of 2869 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 164 of 2869 occurrencesLate Cretaceous — about 63 of 2869 occurrencesPaleocene — about 5 of 2869 occurrencesEocene — about 7 of 2869 occurrencesOligocene — about 1 of 2869 occurrencesMiocene — about 2 of 2869 occurrences3672–3550 Mya — about 1 occurrence3550–3427 Mya — about 2 occurrences3427–3305 Mya — about 2 occurrences3305–3182 Mya — about 2 occurrences2815–2693 Mya — about 2 occurrences2693–2570 Mya — about 2 occurrences2570–2448 Mya — about 1 occurrence2081–1958 Mya — about 34 occurrences1958–1836 Mya — about 46 occurrences1836–1714 Mya — about 59 occurrences1714–1591 Mya — about 66 occurrences1591–1469 Mya — about 89 occurrences1469–1346 Mya — about 63 occurrences1346–1224 Mya — about 29 occurrences1224–1102 Mya — about 42 occurrences1102–979 Mya — about 63 occurrences979–857 Mya — about 145 occurrences857–734 Mya — about 145 occurrences734–612 Mya — about 44 occurrences612–490 Mya — about 431 occurrences490–367 Mya — about 606 occurrences367–245 Mya — about 313 occurrences245–122 Mya — about 501 occurrences122–0 Mya — about 180 occurrences3200 Mya2.58 Mya3672 Mya0 Mya

2,869 occurrences of Prokaryota on record, most of them in the Cambrian. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

2,869 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

531 formations

Bitter Springs — 23.58°S, 134.49°EBitter Springs — 23.79°S, 133.07°EKotuikan — 70.60°N, 104.60°EBarney Creek — 16.44°S, 136.09°EBarney Creek — 16.43°S, 136.04°EBurgess Shale — 51.44°N, 116.47°WBurgess Shale — 51.38°N, 116.43°WAngmaat — 73.48°N, 80.76°WAngmaat — 73.38°N, 80.39°WAngmaat — 73.55°N, 78.87°WAngmaat — 72.27°N, 79.82°WAngmaat — 72.25°N, 79.97°WAngmaat — 72.24°N, 79.81°WAngmaat — 72.24°N, 79.49°WAngmaat — 72.14°N, 79.01°WAngmaat — 72.13°N, 79.40°WGaoyuzhuang — 39.14°N, 117.18°EGaoyuzhuang — 40.65°N, 115.43°EGaoyuzhuang — 40.16°N, 117.56°EBalbirini Dolomite — 16.75°S, 135.74°EBalbirini Dolomite — 16.75°S, 135.74°EBenbolt — 37.10°N, 81.34°WBenbolt — 37.22°N, 81.36°WBenbolt — 37.23°N, 81.10°WBenbolt — 37.00°N, 81.00°WBenbolt — 37.23°N, 81.32°WBenbolt — 37.08°N, 81.71°WBenbolt — 37.10°N, 81.56°WBenbolt — 37.11°N, 81.52°WBenbolt — 37.27°N, 81.00°WBenbolt — 37.00°N, 81.67°WBenbolt — 37.02°N, 81.63°WBenbolt — 36.19°N, 83.93°WYuhucun — 24.56°N, 102.72°EYuhucun — 24.71°N, 102.57°EMcLeary — 56.55°N, 79.24°WKasegalik — 56.49°N, 79.51°WVictor Bay — 73.31°N, 80.47°WVictor Bay — 72.33°N, 79.78°WDachstein — 47.45°N, 13.07°EDachstein — 47.58°N, 14.47°EDachstein — 47.50°N, 13.50°EDachstein — 47.45°N, 13.69°EDachstein — 48.00°N, 16.42°ESafetdara — 38.76°N, 70.89°ECraggy Dolomite — 65.26°N, 140.94°WRyssö — 79.97°N, 18.28°ERyssö — 79.93°N, 18.46°ERyssö — 79.94°N, 18.41°EChangxing — 29.42°N, 110.90°EChangxing — 29.92°N, 106.43°EChangxing — 30.48°N, 109.05°EChangxing — 31.76°N, 108.46°EChangxing — 30.43°N, 108.53°EChangxing — 30.05°N, 108.93°EChangxing — 29.98°N, 109.08°EChangxing — 30.22°N, 109.05°EChangxing — 32.38°N, 107.11°EChangxing — 25.75°N, 112.82°ESalaany Gol — 46.87°N, 95.80°ESalaany Gol — 47.15°N, 96.90°EYunghsien — 25.35°N, 110.10°EYunghsien — 25.33°N, 110.12°EYusmastakh — 70.56°N, 104.32°EMatoppa — 39.27°N, 8.47°EMatoppa — 39.18°N, 8.55°EMatoppa — 39.35°N, 8.45°EMatoppa — 39.40°N, 8.45°EMatoppa — 39.37°N, 8.52°ECassian — 46.52°N, 11.65°ECassian — 46.51°N, 11.96°ECassian — 46.58°N, 12.25°ECassian — 46.64°N, 12.20°ECassian — 46.54°N, 11.90°EHeceta — 55.78°N, 133.17°WHeceta — 55.78°N, 133.48°WHeceta — 55.73°N, 133.47°WKindblade — 34.93°N, 98.73°WKindblade — 34.38°N, 96.93°WKindblade — 34.37°N, 97.13°WKindblade — 34.42°N, 97.27°W

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The named rock units Prokaryota has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 507 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 660 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Prokaryota and its relatives

Cambrian

Where Prokaryota and its relatives were recorded in the Cambrian.

Found in the same rock

2,483 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 947 sites for Prokaryota, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

654 references

Each of the 2,869 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 642 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Prokaryota

Credit
This vector image is completely made by Ali Zifan
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Prokaryota was found in Smithsonian Open Access and Sketchfab.

MorphoSource was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itLife through timeFormations of the CambrianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0.