Tardigrades presentation for Art/Bio Class

1. Tardigrades
Mary Lopez
The toughest animal on Earth

2. Who we are
North Brooklyn Community Boathouse
● Canoe and Kayak trips
● Public Paddles
● Art/Bio classes
● Monica and Mary

3. Tardigrades (water bears or moss piglets)-Facts
● Means slow steppers
● 0.002-0.05 inches long
● 8 stubby legs ending in claws
● 4 body segments
● Rugged but flexible cuticle body
● Feed on algae, plant cells, fungal cells
● Prey to amoebas, nematodes
● Survived all 5 mass extinctions

4. Tardigrades-Facts continue
● 1,000 known species
● Live up to 2 years
● Found in moss, lichen, fresh water
● Found in all continents
● Found in polar regions, hot springs,
deep seas, deserts, Himalayas
Mountains

5. Tardigrades-Extremes
● Can withstand -300F to 300F temperatures
● Can withstand 6x the pressure of Mariana Trench
● Can withstand radiation (UV, gamma rays, X-rays)
● Can withstand vacuum of space (10 days in space)

6. Tardigrades-Cryptobiosis
● Metabolic activity drops as little as
0.01%
● Water is expelled and they curl
legs inward and form a tun
entering a hibernation state
● Cells are protected by tardigrade
specific proteins which forms a
tough cocoon around the cells.
● Add water-Back to normal!

7. Tardigrades-Research (Biomedical, pharmacology etc.)
● How to preserve crop
plants from drought
● How to stabilize -80
vaccines and
medicines
● How to stabilize
human blood in a
powered, dry state
● Protecting food in
space

8. Art Time with Monica!
Thank you!
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