Bold Traveler Illustration (IMAGE) DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Caption Desulforudis audaxviator is an organism that lives independently in total darkness and at high temperature by reducing sulfate and fixing carbon and nitrogen from its environment, deep within the Earth. It constitutes the first known single-species ecosystem. Credit Illustration © 2008 Thanya Suwansawad Usage Restrictions Only by permission of Thanya Suwansawad License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.