cover of episode Tardigradology (TINY SEMI-INDESTRUCTIBLE WATER BEAR MOSS PIGLET CREATURES CALLED TARDIGRADES) with Paul Bartels

Tardigradology (TINY SEMI-INDESTRUCTIBLE WATER BEAR MOSS PIGLET CREATURES CALLED TARDIGRADES) with Paul Bartels

2024/9/18
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Ologies with Alie Ward

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Tardigrades, microscopic animals also known as water bears or moss piglets, are renowned for their incredible survival abilities. Dr. Paul Bartels discusses their unique features, including their five body segments, eight legs, and a cuticle they molt. He clarifies misconceptions about their appearance, emphasizing their diversity beyond the popularized 'anus head' image. He also explains how tardigrades can survive extreme conditions through cryptobiosis, a state of inactivity where they expel water and produce protective molecules.
  • Tardigrades have 1,400 species, not just the one commonly depicted.
  • Their survival in space involved controlled environments, not full exposure.
  • They can survive extreme conditions for potentially tens of thousands of years using cryptobiosis.
  • Males in one species wrap around the female's head during mating and ejaculate for over an hour.
  • Not all tardigrades are cryptobiotic; the ability is mainly found in terrestrial species.

Shownotes Transcript

Smaller than you can imagine. Potato-shaped. Mysterious. Romantic. And tough enough to survive the vacuum of space or decades of desiccation. Join professor and confirmed Tardigradologist Dr. Paul Bartels to saunter into a microscopic wonderland of bizarrely long naps, foreign genomes, moon landings, glow-in-the-dark moss piglets, cryptobiosis, kitten claws, knife mouths, balloon butts, spiders on Mars, splicing tardigrade DNA into ours, debunking flim-flam and the friends living in your gutters. 

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A donation went to the Xerces Society)

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes)

Other episodes you may enjoy: Bryology (MOSS) with Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer), Planariology (VERY COOL WORMS, I PROMISE)), Benthopelagic Nematology (DEEP SEA WORMS)), Radiology (X-RAY VISION)), Microbiology (GUT BIOME)), FIELD TRIP: My Butt, a Colonoscopy Ride Along & How-To), Diplopodology (MILLIPEDES & CENTIPEDES)), Saurology (LIZARDS)), Astrobiology (ALIENS)), UFOlogy (UNEXPLAINED AERIAL PHENOMENA)), Etymology (WORD ORIGINS)), Ursinology (BEARS)), Carnivore Ecology (LIONS, TIGERS, & BEARS))

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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions) and Jacob Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer)

Theme song by Nick Thorburn