A vegetarian tardigrade was found in a parking lot earlier this week! Microbiologist Kazuharu Arakawa from Keio University collected a moss sample from his apartment parking lot in Tsuruoka City, not knowing that he would discover the 168th species of tardigrade found in Japan. Tardigrades (also known as moss piglets or water bears) have been receiving a lot of attention because of their resistance to extreme heat, cold, and radiation. As I described in a previous post on tardigrades, these creatures resist these otherwise deadly conditions by going into hibernation, called anhydrobiotoic state. This particular water bear is similar to other tardigrades in that it has a pudgy body, eight legs, and a circular mouth. However when researchers looked at the creature’s DNA, they realized it didn’t match any other tardigrade in the world. These specific water bears are actually herbivores eating only algae and other microscopic plants, while other tardigrades in this species (Macrobiotus genus) are carnivores (eating mircoscopic animals). Checkout this cool video of the vegetarian creature pooping out what looks like green algae.

I’m IzzyKat and remember to bikepenguin !