In reporting by Nature, the researchers said the existence of the once-unknown amoeba — now called Incendiamoeba cascadensis, meaning “fire amoeba from the cascades” — also challenges the notion that certain organisms called prokaryotes, which includes all bacteria, are the only lifeforms on Earth that can survive extreme temperatures that kill almost everything else. The highest known temperature shrugged off by a prokaryote, an archaean called Methanopyrus kandleri, is 251.6 degrees Farenheit, a record for all organisms, prokaryotes or not. Eukaryotes such as mammals and us humans have an upper temperature limit of 109.4 degrees Farenheit, above which we die. The scientists said this discovery of the fire amoeba is exciting because it opens up the possibility of further research and discovery of new, undiscovered high-temperature loving eukaryotes; scientists have typically studied heat-loving prokaryotes called thermophiles. The proteins within the amoeba can also be a source for “thermostable proteins” that can find many applications in the biotechnology field, they said.