The tardigrade (also known as a waterbear or a moss piglet) is a tiny extremophile (usually around 1 millimeter in length), meaning that it can withstand conditions that would be detrimental to most other organisms. It has adapted to be able to withstand temperatures approaching absolute zero as well as above water's boiling point. The tardigrade can also flourish at pressures greater than those at the deepest ocean trenches, can survive doses of radiation hundreds of times greater than the amount it would take to kill a human, can proliferate in toxic substances, and can survive without food or water for 120 years. They are also the first animal to have survived in the vacuum of space! They have evolved these beneficial traits so that they can thrive in extreme locations.
Information from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade
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