 By contrast, Maynard Smith and Szathmáry (1995) focus on differences in how genetic information is transmitted across generations, proposing eight major transitions in the history of life. These start with the transition from replicating molecules to compartmentalized populations of such molecules, and end with the transition from primate societies to human societies. While Maynard Smith and Szathmáry are interested in individuality and complexity, their eight transitions do not form a continuous, non-overlapping hierarchy. Their discussion is focused primarily on exploring the processes governing each of the particular transitions they propose in terms of changes in replicative control. O’Malley and Powell (2016) have recently argued that not only does this perspective omit critical events—such as the acquisition of mitochondria and plastids, in what those authors prefer to think of as turns rather than transitions in the evolution of living things—but also that what is needed is a 