Pyrolobus fumarii

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 autoclave.