| Microorganisms | Taxonomy | Habitat |
| Fungi | Viruses | Bacteria |
| Archaea has only recently been talked about as being a major classification domain. Scientists began to study extremeophiles In the 1950's when they were first discovered in Yellowstone National Park. Extremophiles began to be identified and analyzed. Dr. Carl Woese and other scientists at the University of Illinois found that they did not fit into any of the normal groupings of fungi, protists, and bacteria. There was something different about their protein structure that gave them the ability to live and grow in their environments. At the same time, extremophiles had a lot in common with fungi, protists, and bacteria. |
| Extremophiles can live in the harshest of habitats: acidic, geothermal, alkaline, saline, freezing, and high pressure. Each of the organisms within these groups have a unique protein structure that helps them adapt to the different kinds of extreme habitats. These protein structures are each different from one another so that each extremophile can survive only in the extreme environment that they are made to live in. |
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Photographic
Citations: Text Citations: Introduction
to the Archaea: |
