Methanothermobacter

Animalia

Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus grows and gains energy through the conversion of hydrogen and carbon dioxide to methane. Methanothermobacter is part of a group of methane-producing microbes called methanogens. About 3.5 billion years ago, despite a faint young sun insufficient to keep the Earth's surface warm, the planet had liquid oceans, possibly kept unfrozen by methane, a potent greenhouse gas produced by these ancient methanogens. Recent research has combined genetic data from modern microbes and ancient fossils to discover that methanogens donated genes to the ancestor of all oxygen-producing photosynthetic cyanobacteria. - Determining the timing of methanogen evolution