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Tardigrades (Water Bears)

thedavidzoo

Members
My son, in 9th grade, (and I) just did an extensive biology science "project" on tardigrades and their "tun" (cryptobiosis) states. They are fascinating!
 

thedavidzoo

Members
Weeeelllll, not a 9th grade science project.
We unfortunately killed more tardigrades than we would have liked. For being extremely hardy, the conditions have to be just right before they are able to go successfully into their tun state and come back out. And it varies much by species...
 

Localzoo

Board of Directors
Weeeelllll, not a 9th grade science project.
We unfortunately killed more tardigrades than we would have liked. For being extremely hardy, the conditions have to be just right before they are able to go successfully into their tun state and come back out. And it varies much by species...

Almost anything lol


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thedavidzoo

Members
So, my high schooler was doing a project on the effect of different trehalose concentrations (a type of sugar, one that some tardigrades naturally manufacture and use to protect themselves when they are dormant and "dried out" in a "tun" state) on their ability to go into a tun and come back out of it alive when rehydrated.

Well, of the multitudes of tardigrades we subjected to a trehalose treatments, we saw maybe 2 that seemed to come back to life for a short time. According to previous, professional experiments, we should have had at least 80% (can't remember exact #) survive.
Soooo, that is how we killed the unkillable tardigrade...with sugar.
We did also see the baby tardigrades moving within the eggs and then hatch! Yes, I really did enjoy this project more than my son ever did!!! Haha.

Oh, we were so in love with these cute, amazing things under our fancy, binocular microscope that we spent many, many hours staring into, that my younger son helped me "sew" this stuffed tardigrade out of some cheap leftover felt for my high schooler as a surprise.:D

By the way, we also looked at some of my microworms under the microscope. Fascinating! All the live baby worms curled up inside the adults... There are soooo many interesting little critters in our aquarium water!:eek:

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