These supergroups have names like unikonts (comprising animals and fungi), excavates, chromalveolates and plantae (including land plants and algae). Their names don’t matter, but two points are important. First there is far more genetic variation within each of these supergroups than there is between the ancestors of each group (Figure 5). That implies an explosive early radiation – specifically a monophyletic radiation that hints at a release from structural constraints. Second, the common ancestor was already a strikingly complex cell. By
