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Here aresome thing that are true about tardigrade : They ’re lilliputian , measure between 0.05 millimeters to 1.2 mm ( 0.002 to 0.05 inch ) long , aright on the boundary of seeable . They ’re not one species , but a whole phylum of creature . ( A phylum is a broad category ; There are just 32 phylum in the animal kingdom . ) They ’re incredibly common in wet territory . And they ’re among the hardiest creatures on Earth , capable to survive dehydration , blast of radiation , and intense swings in temperature .
Here ’s something else that ’s evidently true about them : They take swell braggart ninny .
Tessa Montague , a late PhD graduate of Harvard ’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology , posted a video on Twitter of a tardigrade , well , taking a immense poo . The little animal has a large gloomy volume in its digestive tract , about a third of its total distance . And in the remarkably clear video Montague posted , the poop passes out of the tardigrade ’s rectum , then it kicks all eight of its little legs to wriggle away from it . Its two rear stage scrabble at the poo as it moves .
Live Science give out by electronic mail with a few question for Montague about the television and tardigrade poop , and her answers are printed below , softly edited for clarity .
Live Science : About how often do tardigrades shit ?
Tessa Montague : I have no idea . The scientist who provided me with the tardigrades , Bob Goldstein ( a prof at UNC Chapel Hill ) , had not yet borne witness to tardigrade defecation when I showed him this video , so that would suggest this kind of pooping does n’t pass off very often .
LS : Are the poops always this big compared to their bodies ?
Montague : Yes ( n=2 ) [ this means she ’s only seen two examples ] . There is one other tardigrade pooping video online , and that poop was also very turgid . Interestingly , that tardigrade seemed to struggle to relieve itself more than mine did . There might be a technological account : My tardigrade was gently pressed between two cover slip to keep it from move out of the physique of the microscope , so it ’s possible that by doing this , I added a little extra oomph to the poop release . Hopefully the tardigrade felt as relieved as I did watching it .
LS : Do we know how much they weigh ?
Montague : No , afraid not . The tardigrade is about 0.2 mm ( 0.008 column inch ) long , so perhaps you could calculate an approximate biomass for the poop .
LS : What are the poops made up of ?
Montague : tardigrade eat lichens , algae etc . so the poop was credibly partially digested lichen . I beguile this footage using a phase contrast setting on the microscope , so it ’s in pitch-black and livid . In full technicolor , the shit is bright unripened !
LS : Is there anything else you think readers should love about tardigrade and their tail ?
Montague : on the face of it some tardigrades only low-down when they molt . Not this guy wire . This mintage molts when it lays egg .
earlier published onLive skill .
