Biology Now, 2e

There’s no way around it: Your belly button is full of bugs. According

to research from Rob Dunn’s lab at North Carolina State University,

the most abundant species in a belly button—those with the biggest

in most people. Yet no two people have exactly the same set of

microbes. In other words, our belly button microbiomes look alike,

but we each have a unique navel fingerprint.

The Bugs in

Your Belly Button

Assessment available in

31%

Corynebacterium

28%

Staphylococcaceae

9%

7%

6%

3%

Anaerococcus

Porphyromonas

Alicyclobacillus

Finegoldia

(^) 2%
Prevotella
(^) 2%
Streptococcus
Enteroba 2%
cteriaceae
(^) 2%
Pseudomonadaceae
(^) 1%
Sphingomonas
(^) 1%
Acin
et
oba
cter
(^) 1%
Cam
pyloba
cter
(^) 1%
Clo
stridiaceae
1%
Pe
p
toniphilus
(^) 1%
P
seudomonas
(^) 1%
Clo
s
tridiales
1%
Cupri
a
vidus
(^) 1%
The other 617 species
populations, such as Corynebacterium and Staphylococcus—are found