Plural of 'archaus' or relating to Archaea, a domain of single-celled microorganisms distinct from bacteria.
From Greek 'archaios' meaning 'ancient' or 'primitive', chosen as the name because these organisms were thought to be ancient in origin. The term groups organisms by their fundamental cellular differences.
For decades, scientists thought Archaea were just weird bacteria, but they turned out to be an entirely separate branch of life equally ancient as bacteria—some even live in boiling hot springs or acidic lakes, proving life is far weirder than we thought.
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