Bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria (/bækˈtɪəriə/ ( listen); common noun bacteria, singular bacterium) constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a number of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals. Bacteria were among the first life forms to appear on Earth, and are present in most of its habitats. Bacteria inhabit soil, water, acidic hot springs, radioactive waste, and the deep portions of Earth's crust. Bacteria also live in symbiotic and parasitic relationships...
33 branches of this kingdom, most-observed first
cyanobacteria
phylumCyanobacteria
proteobacteria
phylumProteobacteria
firmicutes
phylumFirmicutes
actinobacteria
phylumActinobacteria
Spirochaetae
phylumSpirochaetae
Bacteroidetes
phylumBacteroidetes
green nonsulfur bacteria
phylumChloroflexi
Planctomycetes
phylumPlanctomycetes
Aquificae
phylumAquificae
Deinococcus-thermus
phylumDeinococcus-thermus
Nitrospira
phylumNitrospira
green sulfur bacteria
phylumChlorobi
Actinomycetota
phylumActinomycetota
fusobacteria
phylumFusobacteria
Metallogenium
genusMetallogenium
Chlamydiae
phylumChlamydiae
Peloploca
genusPeloploca
Pelosigma
genusPelosigma
Elusimicrobia
phylumElusimicrobia
Armatimonadetes
phylumArmatimonadetes
Chrysiogenetes
phylumChrysiogenetes
Dictyoglomi
phylumDictyoglomi
Tenericutes
phylumTenericutes
Thermotogae
phylumThermotogae
Thermodesulfobacteria
phylumThermodesulfobacteria
acidobacteria
phylumAcidobacteria
Caldiserica
phylumCaldiserica
Deferribacteres
phylumDeferribacteres
Fibrobacteres
phylumFibrobacteres
Gemmatimonadetes
phylumGemmatimonadetes
Lentisphaerae
phylumLentisphaerae
Synergistetes
phylumSynergistetes
Verrucomicrobia
phylumVerrucomicrobia
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Bacteria in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 67333.