Locations of Abiogenesis

Hydrothermal Vent hypothesis — because hydrothermal vent systems are at least superficially some of the oldest on Earth (although they are chemically very different today than they were during the Hadean or Archaean eras), and because today’s hydrothermal vent systems host some of the most morphologically conservative lineages known (i.e., extant creatures who appear notably similar to their extremely ancient ancestors).

Hot Spring hypothesis —

Frozen Lake hypothesis —

“Martian Abiogenesis” —

“Venerean Abiogenesis” —

Mother Earth & Father Mars — is a scenario in which the archaea are native to planet Earth, whereas the bacteria are from somewhere further away, such as Mars. Since it is academic at this point that all life on Earth shares a common genetic ancestor, this would necessarily have to be a prebiotic LUCA model, in which the last common ancestor of the archaea and the bacteria was not yet a “true” lifeform, and that the archaea and bacteria evolved traits of “true” life later on in an example of convergent evolution. The genetic common ancestor of these two groups would therefore logically have originally inhabited an environment unlike Earth or Mars.

“Mother Earth & Father Lucifer” — is a scenario in which the archaea are native to Earth whereas the bacteria are native to Venus (in ancient times, the “Evening Star” was named Venus and the “Morning Star” was named Lucifer, but they both referred to the same planet).

“Mother Venus & Father Mars” — is a scenario in which the archaea are from Venus and the bacteria are from Mars, and the two prokaryotic domains intermingled on Earth.