| Pyrolobus fumarii | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Archaea |
| Phylum: | Crenarchaeota |
| Class: | Thermoprotei |
| Order: | Desulfurococcales |
| Family: | Pyrodictiaceae |
| Genus: | Pyrolobus |
| Binomial name | |
|
Pyrolobus fumarii Blöch, Rachel, Burggraf, Hafenbradl, Jannasch & Stetter, 1997 |
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Pyrolobus fumarii is a species of archaea known for its ability to live at extremely high temperatures that kill most organisms.
It was first discovered in 1997 in a black smoker hydrothermal vent at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, setting the upper temperature threshold for known life to exist at 113 °C.
Strain 121, a microbe from the same family found at a vent in the Pacific Ocean, survived and multiplied during a 10-hour interval spent at 121 °C in an .