Tardigrades Water Bears

Tardigrades – better known as water bears or moss bears from the phylum Tardigrada. These eight legged micro invertebrates can immortalize themselves by completely stopping their metabolism (Cryptobiosis). In this process they almost completely desiccate, replacing lost water with sugars. In 2007 scientists found Tardigrades could survive in the vacuum of space, supporting the rather bizarre hypothesis that life could have been spread throughout the universe by comets and meteorites (Panspermia). They can be found all over the world in various environments, commonly found in moss. This particular species (unknown?) was found amongst Funaria hygrometrica. It fascinates me that something which looks as complex as a caterpillar can be made of just 1000 cells, and is the same size as a full stop .

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