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Facts and fiction about long-term survival in tardigrades

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2001

K. Ingemar Jönsson
Affiliation:
Department of Theoretical Ecology, University of Lund, Ecology Building, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden
Roberto Bertolani
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Biology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213/d, 41100 Modena, Italy
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Abstract

Tardigrades have achieved a widespread reputation for an ability to survive more than a century in an inactive, ametabolic state called cryptobiosis. However, a closer look at the empirical evidence provides little support for the claim that tardigrades are capable of century-long survival. Instead, current evidence suggests that a decade may more realistically represent the upper limit of cryptobiotic survival in the most resistant tardigrades.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2001 The Zoological Society of London

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