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Without plants on Earth, could Earth still have living species on it? Could bacteria, cells, bugs, insects,etc., survive without oxygen?
Question Date: 2017-03-20
Answer 1:

Yes! There was life on Earth when there was very little oxygen in the air. There were only some bacteria and other microbes. Some time during early evolution, more than 2 billion years ago, some bacteria in the ocean evolved to do photosynthesis, making sugar from carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. After there was enough oxygen in the atmosphere, all the larger life forms started evolving - bugs and plants and animals and such.



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