Posts Tagged ‘Cool Animal of the Day: The Tardigrade’

Cool Animal of the Day: The Tardigrade

Posted: February 17, 2022 in Animals, Nature, WTF?
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Note: If you’ve never read about any of my Cool Animals of the Day, read about this one. You will be flabbergasted.

Tardigrades are also known as Water Bears or Moss Piglets, which are stellar names, amirite? Seriously though, scientists have called this tiny (less than 2 mm long), six-legged animal the species most likely to survive the apocalypse. Why, you ask? Because Tardigrades have been sighted from mountaintops to the deep sea and from tropical rain forests to the Antarctic. And Tardigrades can survive in extreme environments. For example, they can withstand temperatures from just above absolute zero to well above the boiling point of water (100 °C), pressures about six times greater than those found in the deepest ocean trenches, ionizing radiation at doses hundreds of times higher than the lethal dose for a human, and the vacuum of outer space.  In addition, they can go without food or water for more than 10 years, drying out to the point where they are 3% or less water, only to rehydrate, forage, and reproduce. Go ahead, read that again. That, my friends is one amazing creature. Anywho, the freakin’ Tardigrade.

Note: A few years ago an Israeli satellite accidentally crashed on the moon that had tardigrades on board. They likely spilled all over. The company that crashed them almost definitely thinks the tardigrades are still alive. So hey, the moon probably has life on it now, and that happened while none of us were paying attention.

Water bear (Macrobiotus sapiens) in moss. Color enhanced scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a water bear in its active state. Water bears (or tardigrades) are tiny invertebrates that live in aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats such as lichen and damp moss. They require water to obtain oxygen by gas exchange. In dry conditions, they can enter a cryptobiotic state of desiccation, known as a tun, to survive. In this state, water bears can survive for up to a decade. This species was found in moss samples from Croatia. It feeds on plant and animal cells. Water bears are found throughout the world, including regions of extreme temperature, such as hot springs, and extreme pressure, such as deep underwater. They can also survive high levels of radiation and the vacuum of space. Magnification: x250 when printed 10cm wide.