The primary distinction between these two types of organisms is that eukaryotic cells have a membrane-bound nucleus and prokaryotic cells do not. ... The nucleus is only one of many membrane-bound organelles in eukaryotes. Prokaryotes, on the other hand, have no membrane-bound organelles.
Eukaryotes are organisms whose cells have a nucleus enclosed within a nuclear envelope. Eukaryotes belong to the domain Eukaryota or Eukarya; their name comes from the Greek εὖ and κάρυον. The domain Eukaryota makes up one of the domains of life in the three-domain system; the two other domains are Bacteria and Archaea. Eukaryotes represent a tiny minority of the number of living organisms; however, due to their generally much larger size, their collective worldwide biomass is estimated to be about equal to that of prokaryotes. Eukaryotes evolved approximately 1.6–2.1 billion years ago, during the Proterozoic eon.
