The fossil record shows a sequence from simple bacteria to more complicated organisms through time, it is very reliable because it is physical evidence and by studying fossils, scientists can learn how much (or how little) organisms have changed as life developed on Earth.
The D period refers to the stage between the end of DNA replication and the splitting of the bacterial cell into two daughter cells. In cells with a nucleus, as in eukaryotes, the cell cycle is also divided into three periods: interphase, the mitotic (M) phase, and cytokinesis.