- published: 04 Sep 2012
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Tardigrades (commonly known as waterbears or moss piglets) form the phylum Tardigrada, part of the superphylum Ecdysozoa. They are small, water-dwelling, segmented animals with eight legs.
Tardigrades were first described in 1773 by Johann August Ephraim Goeze, who called them kleiner Wasserbär, meaning 'little water bear'. The name Tardigrada means "slow walker" and was given by Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1777. The name water bear comes from the way they walk, reminiscent of a bear's gait. The biggest adults may reach a body length of 1.5 millimetres (0.059 in), the smallest below 0.1 mm. Freshly hatched tardigrades may be smaller than 0.05 mm.
Some 1,150 species of tardigrades have been described. Tardigrades occur over the entire world, from the high Himalayas (above 6,000 metres (20,000 ft)), to the deep sea (below 4,000 metres (13,000 ft)) and from the polar regions to the equator.
The most convenient place to find tardigrades is on lichens and mosses. Other environments are dunes, beaches, soil, and marine or freshwater sediments, where they may occur quite frequently (up to 25,000 animals per litre). Tardigrades often can be found by soaking a piece of moss in spring water.
You don’t know my name
But embrace me just the same
In kind approval
I close my eyes
And pretend that you’re not there
In blind removal, removal
It is like wind on the water
I try to escape but it’s useless
It is like sun on the green leaves
Rustling with life
Oh you are the one
The chosen one
Take whatever you may
Follow me onward along the way
And let the news carry high
That I am marching, marching to die
Now, it soon will be over now
Carry my burden to the end
Now, I see you are with me now
I am the one that heaven sent