E5: Tardigrada


Hello everyone! In the latest episode of the Entangled Bank podcast, Tyler Stumbo and Keith Merson inform us about everyone’s favorite little water bear, the tardigrades! In this episode, this duo delves into the phylogeny, habitats, and evolutionary characteristics that make tardigrades one of the most diverse and extreme survivalists on Earth. They discuss in-depth the process, as well as different types of cryptobiosis, morphological characteristics that determine phylogenetic relationships, take a quick biological inventory of the organism, and provide some cool fun facts about tardigrades. We hope you all can tune in to learn about these cute, yet hardy creatures. The sources used in the podcast are provided below if you would like to look for yourself.

Sources


Nichols PB, Nelson DR, Garey JR. A Family Level Analysis of Tardigrade Phylogeny.
Hydrobiologia. 2006;558(1):53–60.


Møbjerg N, Halberg KA, Jørgensen A, Persson D, Bjørn M, Ramløv H, Kristensen RM. Survival
in extreme environments - on the current knowledge of adaptations in tardigrades. Acta Physiologica. 2011;202(3):409–420.


Tsujimoto, M, Imura, S & Kanda, H. Recovery and reproduction of an Antarctic tardigrade retrieved from a moss sample frozen for over 30 years. Cryobiology. 2015;72(1):78–81.


Nelson DR. Current Status of the Tardigrada: Evolution and Ecology. Integrative and
Comparative Biology. 2002;42(3):652-659.


Nelson DR, Bartels PJ. “Smoky Bears” – Tardigrades of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Southeastern Naturalist. 2007;1: 229-238.


Bartels PJ, Apodaca JJ, Mora C, Nelson DR. A global biodiversity estimate of a poorly known taxon: phylum Tardigrada. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 2016;178:730-736.

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 13, 2018 at 6:16 PM

    I prefer to reference them as moss piglets. LOL
    I am still in awe of the wast, and extreme conditions Tardigrades can survive.

    ReplyDelete

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