Amoeba that thrives at 63°C breaks heat-tolerance record for complex life
A single-celled amoeba found in a Californian hot spring can feed and reproduce at temperatures once thought lethal to complex life, according to a study in Cell.
Scientists have identified a new species of amoeba living in the hot springs of Lassen, California. According to a study published in Cell, the single-celled organism can eat and reproduce at 63°C, a temperature that would kill all other known complex life.
New Scientist, which calls it the “fire amoeba,” describes the same finding as thriving above 60°C, a threshold previously considered deadly to complex life. The two reports agree on the record-breaking nature of the discovery, but differ slightly in the reported temperature: Phys.org gives 63°C, while New Scientist uses the rounder “above 60°C.”
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