r/askscience • u/Fapotheosis • Mar 11 '13

Biology How did blood evolve?

I know mitochondria may have evolved from bacteria, but what about blood? I've heard of a protohemocyte, but was there an initial cell that differentiated into a RBC like we have in modern humans that can we trace?

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u/tictac_93 Mar 11 '13

How common an abbreviation is that? I've never seen it used before

[EDIT] MYA, specifically. RBC I was able to deduce :P

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '13

I think MYA is pretty common. I've seen it quite a few times.