Tardigrada, The Strongest Animal on Earth

If you ask what animal is the most powerful in the world? Maybe most of the answers are the king of the jungle or the lion. But, it turns out, there is one type of tiny animal that is likely stronger than a lion. He is Tardigrades. Quoted from the BBC, tardigrades are small, cute and almost indestructible animals. These microscopic animals are able to survive in a pot of boiling water, at the bottom of a deep ocean trench or even in a cold, dark vacuum. In August, in fact, an Israeli spacecraft carrying tardigrades as part of a scientific experiment crashed on the moon, and scientists believe they may have survived.

It is this extraordinary ability to survive extreme conditions that has caught the attention of scientists, who say tardigrades may hold the key to human survival. What we learn from ongoing research on tardigrades could help us stay alive on the operating table or in space.

Tardigrades have long, curvaceous bodies and eight short legs. They are closely related to insects and crustaceans but somewhat resemble pigs or bears - and are sometimes called "water bears". "Their proportions are a bit like bears, and they're kind of cute — at least some of them are funny to some people," said Roger Chang, a Harvard University molecular biologist who studies tardigrades. Most tardigrade species are less than half a millimeter long, about the size of a dust mite. Some species are larger, growing to 1.5 millimeters long, about the size of a grain of sand—large enough to be seen with the naked eye, according to Chang.

Tardigrades are semi-aquatic. They can survive in both aquatic and terrestrial environments - from oceans and lakes to mountains, forests and sand dunes. They are found all over the world, from cold Antarctic glaciers to active lava fields. They are most often found living in mosses. Most tardigrades feed on algae and flowering plants, penetrate plant cells and suck their contents through a tubular mouth. Some, however, are carnivorous and may eat other tardigrades. Tardigrades are nature's pioneers, colonizing potentially harsh new environments, providing food for the next great creature. Scientists say, for example, that tardigrades may have been among the first animals to leave the oceans and settle on dry land.