00:00Earth wasn't always as it is today, and before the Great Oxidation Event, or GOE,
00:08our planet's atmosphere was very different.
00:10Still, at some point, cyanobacteria evolved to release O2 as a metabolic byproduct, changing
00:15the evolution of life forever.
00:17Now experts say that microbial life in Yellowstone's Lower Geyser Basin may provide clues as to
00:22how early life adapted to oxygen.
00:25They found that microbes living in the octopus and conch springs are genetically similar
00:29to their ancient counterparts, and they form gelatinous streamer structures and thrive
00:33in superheated water upwards of 190 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:37The wild thing is that each of these springs host wildly different environments.
00:41Octopus spring has a high oxygen, low sulfide content, while conch spring is reversed, with
00:46high sulfide, low oxygen.
00:48This provides clues as to how organisms adapted to low oxygen environments as Earth's atmosphere
00:52was changing, with early microbes likely having developed strategies to handle traces of oxygen
00:57before it became abundant.
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