Tardigrades: An Animal That Can Go Decades Without Water?

Humans need water to survive. Without water, the average man would die in a week, considering every living cell in the body needs it to continue functioning. What would one say, though, if they discovered an animal that could go decades without water? Even more, that they could survive nearly anywhere, including beyond Earth’s atmosphere? Tardigrades, often referred to as “water bears”, or even “moss piglets”, are intensely small creatures with a knack for survival. Belonging to the Tardigrada Phylum, a high-level scientific category of animals, there are over 1,000 known species within this complex. They often appear to be clear, or translucent in color. In some cases, though, they can appear to be colors as vibrant as orange, yellow, pink, green, and
Food in the gut, cuticle pigments, and “gradual bodies in their hemocoel”(animaldiversity.org) can also contribute to their overall color. Tardigrades have a bilateral symmetry, meaning they could be divided into two halves down a certain point or plane, and each half would resemble the other. All Tardigrades have an “intrinsic musculature” and some species even have telescopic legs. Their bodies are made up of seven layers of proteins and chitin, being referred to as the cuticle. As these animals grow, they molt with each series of their life. They will finally reach sexual maturity after three to six instars, which is a phase between two instances of molting. Because Tardigrades so frequently molt, instars can be very short towards the earlier stages of their life, but grow longer with increasing age. They have long, plump bodies and “podgy faces with folds of flesh.” (Bradford) With eight legs, and hands spouting 4-8 claws each, and sharp teeth with the abilities to protrude from there face, the Tardigrades sound as though they could be deadly. Although, due to their nearly microscopic size, they remain unseen to the naked eye. Ranging from .05-1.2 millimeters,