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tardigrade
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- 1Microscope footage shows a tardigrade, nature's toughest survivor●This is a tardigrade — the water bear — going about its day under the microscope. Hard to believe this chubby little blo
Microscope footage of a tardigrade, or water bear, is circulating online. The tiny animal, barely a millimetre long, is shown moving and feeding under magnification. People are sharing the clip for its near-unbelievable resilience: tardigrades can survive the vacuum of space, radiation hundreds of times the human lethal dose, and years without water by drying into a dormant state called a tun.
- 2Tardigrade DNA Confirms Rare Species in Germany▼Tardigrade DNA Confirms Rare Species in Germany and Sparks Taxonomy Dispute
DNA analysis has confirmed the presence of a rare tardigrade species in Germany, but the finding has reignited a dispute among taxonomists over how the species should be classified. Tardigrades, microscopic animals famous for surviving extreme conditions, are notoriously difficult to distinguish, and genetic evidence is increasingly clashing with traditional morphology-based definitions of species, leaving researchers divided over which naming conventions should stand.
- 3Tardigrade Survival Proteins Show Convergent Evolution, Study Finds▼Water Bears’ Survival Secrets Point to Convergent Evolution in Stress Proteins
New research into tardigrades, the microscopic animals known as water bears, suggests their remarkable resilience to extreme conditions stems from stress-protective proteins that evolved independently along similar paths in different lineages. The findings point to convergent evolution in the molecular machinery that lets these creatures survive drying, freezing and radiation, offering clues for biotechnology and stress-tolerance research.
- 4Tardigrades: the toughest animals on Earth●Meet the toughest animal on Earth. Tardigrades — 'water bears' barely a millimeter long — can shut down their metabolism
Science communicators are highlighting tardigrades, microscopic 'water bears' barely a millimeter long, which can enter a dormant state that shuts down their metabolism. In this state they survive the vacuum of space, temperatures from near absolute zero to 150°C, and radiation doses hundreds of times lethal to humans, making them among the most resilient animals known.