TY  - Type of reference 
TI  - A pictorial biography of Bathybius haeckelii, the short-lived primordial life form of the deep sea 
AU  - John R. Dolan 
AB  - In 1859, Darwin’s Origin of the Species provoked a revolution in biology, providing an explanation for the tremendous diversity of life forms. However, it had no explanation of how life originated on earth, nor discussion of a primordial life form that would give rise to existing life forms. Two of Darwin’s most devoted followers, Thomas Huxley and Ernst Haeckel, believed a solution had been found in the form Huxley’s discovery in 1868 of a microorganism he christened, Bathybius Haeckelii. It was a featureless gelatinous masse, covering the floor of the deep sea, according to Huxley, and plausibly formed by spontaneous generation, according to Haeckel. Although widely heralded, it was short-lived as gelatinous masses found in samples of deep-sea mud were found to be an artifact of sample preservation in 1875. Here the view put forward is that Bathybius was accepted, if only for a few years, not only because it filled a perceived lack in Darwin’s theory, but also due in large part to Haeckel’s illustrations of Bathybius as life-like creature, shown here through a pictorial biography of Bathybius. 
DO  - 10.21494/ISTE.OP.2026.1501 
JF  - Art and Science 
KW  - Thomas Huxley, Ernst Haeckel, Origin of Life, Scientific Illustration, Thomas Huxley, Ernst Haeckel, Origine de la Vie, Illustration Scientifique,  
L1  - https://openscience.fr/IMG/pdf/iste_artsci26v10n4_2.pdf 
LA  - en 
PB  - ISTE OpenScience 
DA  - 2026/10/23 
SN  - 2515-8767 
TT  - Une biographie illustrée de Bathybius haeckelii, la forme de vie primordiale des grands fonds à l’existence éphémère 
UR  - https://openscience.fr/A-pictorial-biography-of-Bathybius-haeckelii-the-short-lived-primordial-life 
IS  - Issue 4 
VL  - 10 
ER  -