Prokaryotes are considered by the scientific community as the most ancient life-forms on earth. yet, these primitive cells share many common characteristics with the more modern eukaryotes. however, one significant difference between these two cell types is that only eukaryotes contain a membrane-bound compartments to carry out specialized functions b a selectively-permeable cell membrane to maintain homeostasis c deoxyribonucleic acid to serve as a template to produce proteins d a rigid cell wall which provides structure and support