Three truths
- Timed
- Branched off about 3.0 billion years ago · the last 71% of life's story
- Named
- ≈50 named living species · 0.003% of all named
- Weighed
- Part of Archaea (≈7 Gt C), not measured separately.
Archaea · class
Thermophilic archaea (Thermococci)
Thermococci
Living · roughly 50 described species
Heat-loving archaea from deep-sea hydrothermal vents, growing best at temperatures that would kill most life.
Key characteristics
- Grow best near boiling temperatures
- Live without oxygen
- Studied for heat-stable enzymes
- Habitat
- Deep-sea hydrothermal vents
- Branched off
- About 3.0 billion years ago (approximate)
- Parent lineage
- Euryarchaeota
Classification
Sources
- Thermococci (Wikipedia) · Wikipedia
- TimeTree: the timescale of life · TimeTree
- Open Tree of Life · Open Tree of Life
- Tree of Life Web Project · Tree of Life Web Project