The most heat-tolerant animal (thermophile) is Cataglyphis bicolor, a desert-dwelling scavenger ant which lives in the Sahara desert and forages at a temperature of over 55ºC (131ºF)

These thermophilic ants survive in such extreme temperatures in three ways. First, the ants move fairly quickly which minimizes their exposure to the sun. Secondly, their long legs elevate them above the surface of the desert by approximately 4 mm (0.1 in) where the temperature is 6-7ºC (10.8–12.6ºF) cooler. And finally, when they forage the ants have a habit of pausing on stalks of dry vegetation where the lower temperatures help them to cool down. The average temperature of the human body is 37ºC, at 44ºC the human body system ceases to function resulting in death. They can travel up to 15 m per minute and can grow to 3/4 inch long.