methanosphaera methanosphaera in taxonomy, methanosphaera is a genus of microbes within the family methanobacteriaceae. it was distinguished from other genera within methanobacteriaceae in 1985 on the basis of the oligonucleotide sequence of its 16s rna. like other archaea within methanobacteriaceae, those of methanosphaera are methanogens, but while most use formate to reduce carbon dioxide, those of methanosphaera use hydrogen to reduce methanol to methane. methanosphaera scientific classification domain: archaea kingdom: euryarchaeota class: methanobacteria order: methanobacteriales family: methanobacteriaceae genus: methanosphaeramiller and wolin 1985 type species methanosphaera stadtmanaecorrig. miller & wolin 1985 species m. cuniculi m. stadtmanae