Crater Lake Tardigrade/Water Bear (Paramacrobiotus craterlaki)The name “tardigrade” refe

Crater Lake Tardigrade/Water Bear (Paramacrobiotus craterlaki)

The name “tardigrade” refers to an entire phylum of microscopic eight-legged animals (keep in mind that two other examples of phyla are mollusca and chordata, and chordata contains all animals that have a backbone). Tardigrades are probably most well known for their ability to survive a wide variety of extreme environments. They can survive extreme temperature, pressure, radiation, and desiccation. They can even survive the vacuum of space. They manage to endure these conditions by entering a state of cryptobiosis and becoming a “tun.” In this process, they loose a massive amount of water and and essentially enter a state of suspended animation.

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