Bacteria have evolved all forms of nutrition and nearly all forms of metabolic pathways early in prokaryotic life. Early in Earth's history, the physical and biological environments were constantly changing. In response to these changes, bacteria and other types of prokaryotes developed new metabolic capabilities. Natural selection would favor those with the metabolic capabilities most suitable to the changing environments, so a diversity of metabolic capabilities was produced. In turn, these new metabolic capabilities would change the environment for the next community of prokaryotes.
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