Wildlife in Yellowstone National Park’s Thermal Basins
Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Stanley Mordensky, geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. View of the vibrant, multicolored extremophilic bacteria in the outflow from Grand Prismatic Spring at the Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Elizabeth Mordensky, May 12, 2024. When considering life in Yellowstone’s thermal basins, extremophiles—organisms that thrive in, if not require, extreme temperature or acidic conditions—come immediately to mind. Some of these extremophiles vibrantly display colorful bacterial mats characteristic of some thermal features (like the extremophilic bacteria of