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An endolith is an organism (archaeum, bacterium, fungus, lichen, algae or amoeba) that lives inside rock, coral, animal shells, or in the pores between mineral grains of a rock. Many are extremophiles, living in places previously thought inhospitable to life. They are of particular interest to astrobiologists, who theorize that endolithic environments on Mars and other planets constitute potential refugia for extraterrestrial microbial communities.〔Wierzchos, J., Camara, B., De Los Rios, A., Davila, A. F., Sanchaz Almazo, M., Artieda, O., Wierzchos, K., Gomez-Silva, B., McKay, C., Ascaso, C. (2011). Microbial colonization of Ca-sulfate crusts in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert: Implications for the search for life on Mars.''Geobiology'', 9, 44-60.〕 ==Subdefinitions== The term "endolith", which defines an organism that colonizes the interior of any kind of rock, has been further classified into three subclasses: ;Chasmoendolith: colonizes fissures and cracks in the rock (''chasm'' = cleft) ;Cryptoendolith: colonizes structural cavities within porous rocks, including spaces produced and vacated by euendoliths (''crypto'' = hidden) ;Euendolith: penetrates actively into the interior of rocks forming tunnels that conform with the shape of its body, rock boring organism (''eu'' = good, true) 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「endolith」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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