Tardigrades (Tardigrada), also known as “water bears” or “moss suckers” are almost microscopic, multicellular beings and one of the most durable life forms on planet Earth.
They have a very curious, long and plump body and a wrinkled head (they measure less than a millimeter). They have eight legs with four or eight claws on each. Although they are strangely beautiful, these little animals are almost indestructible and can even survive in outer space.
Tardigrades belong to the edgeEcdysozoawithin the anima realm (humans belong to the edgeChordate: animals with spinal cords). There are more than 1,000 known species of tardigrades, according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (SIIT).
They are undoubtedly one of the most fascinating creatures on Earth (and now on the Moon). The mysterious microscopic creatures have landed on the lunar surface in what looks like the beginning of a science fiction movie. But they are not there as part of a hostile takeover, but rather by chance.
In April 2019, the Israeli moon-bound Beresheet spacecraft crashed due to a computer error. The scientists loaded the tardigrades into the Beresheet along with human DNA samples. When the lunar lander crashed, thousands of dehydrated tardigrades could have scattered over the moon’s surface.
The tardigrades were in a dormant state – they wrinkle into a ball, expel most of the water in their bodies, and slow down their metabolism through cryptobiosis until they enter an environment more suitable to sustain life. They can exist like this for decades. They are also quite rugged and can withstand the harshest environments. Is there somewhere they couldn’t live?
” Tardigrades can survive pressures comparable to those created when asteroids hit Earth, so a small crash like this is nothing to them ,” Tardigrade expert Lukasz Kaczmarek told The Guardian.
So what does this mean for humanity? It depends. If humans are able to replicate cryptobiosis like tardigrades do, we would live much longer than the current average lifespan of 72 years globally.
According to Kaczmarek, when a tardigrade falls into the desiccated state, it does not age. It becomes inactive at one month of age and can wake up years later and would be biologically the same age.
Do you want to know more curiosities about these cute little animals? We started!
