Water bears, also called tardigrades, are microscopic eight-legged invertebrates found in nearly every environment on Earth, from deep oceans to mountaintops to the moss and lichen of ordinary gardens. They are best known for their extraordinary ability to survive extreme conditions, including near-total desiccation, intense radiation, and even brief exposure to the vacuum of space, by entering a dormant state called cryptobiosis. When conditions improve, a dormant water bear can rehydrate and resume normal activity, sometimes after years of dormancy.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) System (Realm) System (Realm) Living or Extinct Scientific Name Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Wikipedia: Tardigrade
In Biome
Source Water Bear (Wikipedia)
In Ecosystem
Source Water Bear (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. GBIF Species API
2. Wikidata (taxon extant/extinct status)
Wikimedia Foundation / Wikidata contributorsQ5194, descriptionView the Source 3. Wikipedia: Tardigrade
Infobox: taxon
Tardigrada
In Group: Tardigrades (Water Bears), Lead
Tardigrades ( ), also known as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals.
View the SourceWater Bear (Wikipedia)
- In Biome: Tropical Rainforest, Wikipedia intro: "low walkers". Tardigrades live in diverse regions of Earth's biosphere: mountaintops, the deep sea, tropical rainforests, and the Antarctic. They are among the..."
- In Ecosystem: Deep Sea, Wikipedia intro: "h means "slow walkers". Tardigrades live in diverse regions of Earth's biosphere: mountaintops, the deep sea, tropical rainforests, and the Antarctic. They are..."
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