tiny Creepy Crawlers Don’t be fooled by size Some of the most powerful creatures are also the smallest You can find lots of these tiny creatures in your own homes but others are so small you need a microscope to study them But despite their small size all have powers of some sort including amazing defenses impressive speed and the ability to survive in extreme environments 6 Flea Tardigrade Unfortunately when we look on the small scale we find a lot of unpleasant creatures too Parasites such as fleas and worms live on or in the body of a host animal usually at the host’s discomfort Up to fifty percent of all animal species are parasitic in some way It’s a good life for the parasite after all offering easy food and lots of protection
Tick Woodlouse A few of these parasites such as the flea and tick live on our bodies One or two of them live inside us And then there are truly troublesome life forms such as plague bacteria which are so small they can be passed on in the bodies of tiny parasites and yet are so deadly that they have changed the course of human history Mini bugs rule Giant millipede
tough Critters Some people call me a moss piglet I’m soooooooo thirsty Tardigrade means slow walker Tardigrades use hydraulics body fluid pressure to bend their legs which are tipped with sharp curving claws When there’s no water tardigrades dry out In this state they are called tuns and a sugar called trehalose replaces water in the body to preserve the cells Is it getting warm in here Wheeeeee Tuns usually survive drying out They and their eggs may be carried on the wind to new places to start new populations once they’re moistened again In temperature tests tardigrades have survived temperatures from 458 to 300 Fahrenheit 272 to 149 Celsius way beyond human endurance Nah we’re a wee bit chilly It’s one giant leap for water bears In 2007 the European Space Agency sent tuns and eggs up on a rocket to expose them to the vacuum of space They were also exposed to levels of solar radiation that would kill humans After returning to Earth ten days later and being rehydrated two-thirds of the tuns survived the trip unharmed 8
TARDIGRADES The tiny tardigrade or water bear clambers through damp plants eating tinier animals or algae with its pump action snout And it’s the toughest animal ever In tests it has survived being boiled frozen pressurized oxygen starved and blitzed with radiation But its best trick used when there’s no water is to go into a tun state where it shrivels like a dry sponge and simply waits for years sometimes to be wet again TARDIGRADES PHYLUM TARDIGRADA Lifespan ten years or more Size 0 004 0 06 inches 0 1 1 5 millimeters PUFFED UP When starved of oxygen tardigrades swell up above until oxygen levels return to normal This puffy state is called anoxybiosis ALIENS People have suggested tardigrades might be aliens from another planet But as they can go without oxygen for only a few days this isn’t likely SURVIVORS Tardigrades can survive pressure almost six times greater than that found in the deepest ocean trenches 9
