Phylum of microscopic animals, also known as water bears
"Tardigrada" redirects here. For the suborder of mammals, see sloth.
"Moss Piglets" redirects here. For the South Park episode, see Moss Piglets (South Park).
Tardigrade
Temporal range: Turonian–Recent
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Middle Cambrian stem-group fossils
Milnesium tardigradum, a eutardigrade
Echiniscus insularis, a heterotardigrade
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Subkingdom:
Eumetazoa
Clade:
ParaHoxozoa
Clade:
Bilateria
Clade:
Nephrozoa
(unranked):
Protostomia
Superphylum:
Ecdysozoa
(unranked):
Panarthropoda
Phylum:
Tardigrada Spallanzani, 1777
Classes
Eutardigrada
Heterotardigrada
Mesotardigrada (dubious)
Tardigrades (/ˈtɑːrdɪɡreɪdz/),[1] known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets,[2][3][4][5] are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals.[2][6] They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them Kleiner Wasserbär ('little water bear').[7] In 1777, the Italian biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani named them Tardigrada (/tɑːrˈdɪɡrədə/), which means "slow steppers".[8]
They have been found in diverse regions of Earth's biosphere – mountaintops, the deep sea, tropical rainforests, and the Antarctic.[8] Tardigrades are among the most resilient animals known,[9][10] with individual species able to survive extreme conditions – such as exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme pressures (both high and low), air deprivation, radiation, dehydration, and starvation – that would quickly kill most other known forms of life.[11] Tardigrades have survived exposure to outer space.[12][13] There are about 1,300 known species[14] in the phylum Tardigrada, a part of the superphylum Ecdysozoa consisting of animals that grow by ecdysis (shedding an exoskeleton) such as arthropods and nematodes. The earliest known true members of the group are known from Cretaceous (145 to 66 million years ago) amber, found in North America, but are essentially modern forms. Their origin is therefore likely much earlier, as they diverged from their closest relatives in the Cambrian more than 500 million years ago.
Tardigrades are usually about 0.5 mm (0.020 in) long when fully grown.[2] They are short and plump, with four pairs of legs, each ending in claws (usually four to eight) or suction disks.[2][15] Tardigrades are prevalent in mosses and lichens and feed on plant cells, algae, and small invertebrates. When collected, they may be viewed under a low-power microscope, making them accessible to students and amateur scientists.[16]
^ abcdMiller, William (2017-02-06). "Tardigrades". American Scientist. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
^Simon, Matt (21 March 2014). "Absurd Creature of the Week: The Incredible Critter That's Tough Enough to Survive in the vacuum of Space". Wired. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
^Copley, Jon (23 October 1999). "Indestructible". New Scientist. No. 2209. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
^Dean, Cornelia (September 9, 2015). "Meet tardigrade, the water bear". The Hindu. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
^Cross, Ryan (2016-11-07). "Secrets of the tardigrade". C&EN Global Enterprise. 94 (44): 20–21. doi:10.1021/cen-09444-scitech1. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^ abBordenstein, Sarah. "Tardigrades (Water Bears)". Microbial Life Educational Resources. National Science Digital Library. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
^Guarino, Ben (14 July 2017). "These animals can survive until the end of the Earth, astrophysicists say". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
^Sloan, David; Alves Batista, Rafael; Loeb, Abraham (2017). "The Resilience of Life to Astrophysical Events". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 5419. arXiv:1707.04253. Bibcode:2017NatSR...7.5419S. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-05796-x. PMC 5511186. PMID 28710420.
^Orellana, Roberto; Macaya, Constanza; Bravo, Guillermo; Dorochesi, Flavia; Cumsille, Andrés; Valencia, Ricardo; Rojas, Claudia; Seeger, Michael (2018-10-30). "Living at the Frontiers of Life: Extremophiles in Chile and Their Potential for Bioremediation". Frontiers in Microbiology. 9: 2309. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.02309. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 6218600. PMID 30425685.
^"'Water Bears' are first animal to survive vacuum of space". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 10 September 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008.
^"'Water Bears' Able To Survive Exposure To Vacuum Of Space". Science Daily. Archived from the original on 11 September 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008.
^Degma, Peter; Bertolani, Roberto; Guidetti, Roberto (2021). "Actual checklist of Tardigrada species (2009–2021, 40th Edition: 19-07-2021)" (PDF). Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia. doi:10.25431/11380_1178608. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
^Nelson, Diane (1 July 2002). "Current status of Tardigrada: Evolution and Ecology". Integrative and Comparative Biology. 42 (3): 652–659. doi:10.1093/icb/42.3.652. PMID 21708761.
^Shaw, Michael W. "How to Find Tardigrades". Tardigrade USA. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
Tardigrades (/ˈtɑːrdɪɡreɪdz/), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first...
during a failed landing attempt. Its payload included a few thousand tardigrades (also known as water bears). Initial reports suggested they could have...
Tardigrade specific proteins are types of intrinsically disordered proteins specific to tardigrades. These proteins help tardigrades survive desiccation...
agreed upon, but the position of tardigrades is more controversial. Some phylogenomic studies have found tardigrades to be more closely related to nematodes...
(contraction of damage suppressor) is a DNA-associating protein, unique to the tardigrade, that suppresses the occurrence of DNA breaks by radiation. When human...
Milnesium tardigradum is a cosmopolitan species of tardigrade that can be found in a diverse range of environments. It has also been found in the sea around...
Label: Transgressive, Tardigrade Format: CD, digital download, vinyl Wake Up Calls Released: 18 September 2020 Label: Tardigrade Format: Digital download...
Biostasis project. These approaches are based on research into diapause in tardigrades and wood frogs which suggests that selective stabilization of intracellular...
observed in certain invertebrate animals such as bdelloid rotifers, tardigrades, brine shrimp, nematodes, and at least one insect, a species of chironomid...
angry as a rattle snake with its tail caught in a car door!". The album, Tardigrades Will Inherit the Earth, was announced on 5 December 2016 for release...
Onychophora, the arthropods and the velvet worms) is monophyletic, and tardigrades lie outside this grouping. Anatomic arguments for the tactopoda monophyly...
Extant phyla in these rocks include molluscs, brachiopods, onychophorans, tardigrades, arthropods, echinoderms and hemichordates, along with numerous now-extinct...
Hypsibius dujardini sensu lato is a species complex of tardigrade in the class Eutardigrada. A member of this complex, Hypsibius exemplaris, is widely...
Stygarctus keralensis is a species of marine tardigrade. It is described from the intertidal area of Vadakara beach, Kerala it can be easily differentiated...
Bertolanius is a genus of tardigrades belonging to the family Eohypsibiidae. The species of this genus are found in Europe and Northern America. Species:...
her contributions to the study of tardigrades, microscopic organisms. Diphascon claxtonae, a species of tardigrade, is named for her. Claxton was born...
eurythermal organism's proteins. Extreme examples of eurytherms include Tardigrades (Tardigrada), the desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularis), and green crabs...
more closely related to lobopods and tardigrades than to anomalocarids. In 2014, it was found that tardigrades were more closely related to arthropods...
things including bacteria, algae, plant cells, and organic material. Tardigrades inhabit a variety of lichens and mosses. They need water in these areas...
Eutardigrada are a class of tardigrades (Tardigrada) without lateral appendages. Primarily freshwater bound, some species have secondarily gained the...
May 2011). "Tardigrades: Water bears in space". BBC. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2011. "Tardigrades: Water bears...
Invertebrates also have a pharynx. Invertebrates with a pharynx include the tardigrades, annelids and arthropods, and the priapulids (which have an eversible...
Rabbow, E.; Schill, Ralph O.; Harms-Ringdahl, M.; Rettberg, P. (2008). "Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit". Current Biology. 18 (17):...
reported that a team of military scientists inserted a gene from the tardigrade into human embryonic stem cells in an experiment with the stated possibility...
by arthropods (insects, chelicerates, myriapods and crustaceans) and tardigrades, as well as the outer shell of certain sponges and the mollusc shell...
renders Lobopodia a monophyletic taxon, if indeed it is valid (that is, if Tardigrades and Onychophora are closer to one another than either is to Arthropoda)...
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