What is the most enduring creature in the world. The most hardy animals (5 photos)

Nature has created truly unique organisms, the endurance of which is simply amazing. They are not afraid of lethal doses of radiation for most living beings, extreme temperatures, as well as a long absence of air, water and food.

Some of them have been in outer space and returned unharmed. Who are these lucky people and what is the secret of their phenomenal endurance, will tell the rating of the most tenacious creatures On the Earth.

The hardiest animal on the planet. This microscopic creature lives in aquatic environment. It is distributed throughout the world and is found even at the top of the Himalayas and the bottom of the oceans. The endurance of the microorganism can be envied: the tardigrade survives at extreme temperatures (from -271 ° C to + 100 ° C), exposure to a dose of radiation 1100 times higher than the lethal one for humans, and a pressure of 6000 atmospheres.

Even after a half-hour stay in a vacuum, her body functions are restored, and she is again able to reproduce. The tardigrade lives up to 120 years without food or water.

When adverse conditions occur, it falls into "hibernation": the metabolism slows down to 0.01%, and the water content in the body decreases to 1% of the norm. Such a superpower allowed the creature to survive the flight in outer space.

The most resilient bacterium that can exist in extreme conditions. Its name is translated from Latin as "terrible berry, resistant to radiation." Surprisingly, the microorganism remains viable even after a radiation dose of 5000 Gy, while for a person only 5 Gy is fatal.

The bacterium was discovered in 1950 by accident, during an experiment to sterilize canned meat with radiation exposure. Scientists explain its incredible vitality by the presence of several copies of the genome in the cell, which allows the microorganism to repair damaged DNA.

Lives in tropical seas temperate. This is the only immortal being on the planet, unique in its kind. Once mature, Turritopsis Nutricula reverses the aging process.

It settles to the bottom and transforms into a polyp covered with a thin chitinous membrane. Under it, buds form, in which new jellyfish develop. This cycle repeats itself endlessly. Medusa only dies if she is eaten or killed.

Another immortal being who managed to avoid aging. The secret of the phenomenal survivability of the hydra lies in its high ability to regenerate. All the cells of her body are constantly updated, and damaged parts are replaced with new ones. This eliminates the accumulation of damaging substances and genomic defects.

To completely restore the body of a hydra, only 1/200 of its part or even a suspension of cells is required. That is, an animal, even after grinding in a meat grinder, is able to recreate its body anew or even turn into several new individuals.

Geogemma barossii is a single-celled microorganism found in the vent of a "black smoker" (a hydrothermal vent at the bottom of the sea). This is the only bacterium that can live and multiply at 121 ° C (the temperature for sterilizing instruments in an autoclave), for which it received its name. However, you should not be afraid of infection with strain 121 - at 37 ° C it dies.

Interesting!

At 130°C, replication stops, but the microorganism remains completely viable. When the temperature drops, it is ready to play again.

The devil worm is a species of nematode, considered the deepest living multicellular organism on the ground. Opened in 2011 at a gold mine in South Africa. The worm was found in ore at a depth of 0.9 to 3.6 km.

It lives in small clusters groundwater, whose temperature is about 48 ° C, and feeds on bacteria. Radiocarbon analysis has shown that worms have lived in this environment for over 12,000 years. They have adapted to high temperatures, huge pressure and ultra-low oxygen levels - 1% of the indicator in the ocean.

A special kind of worms that live where, it would seem, life is impossible in principle. They form clusters near "black smokers" - breaks in the earth's crust at the bottom of the oceans and seas, from which water heated to 400 ° C beats. It is saturated with hydrogen sulfide, methane, heavy metals and other toxic substances. The pressure at this depth reaches 290 atmospheres.

Vestimentifera is 2-2.5 meters long. Her body is enclosed in a strong chitinous tube, one end of which is attached to a solid substrate, and bright red tentacles can be seen from the other. The worm feeds on symbiotic bacteria living in the central part of the body - the trophosome.

A small fish is very hardy and can quickly adapt to environmental changes. Unlike relatives, the fundulus is not afraid of water contaminated with chemicals, toxic substances and pathological microorganisms. It survives where other fish die due to high toxicity.

Interesting!

Fundulus lives in water of any temperature and salinity. He is able to modify some parts of the body in order to adapt to adverse environmental conditions.

Unique living creature appearance eel-like. Lives in small rivers and lakes. Lang fish refers to rare species lungfish - it has both gills and lungs. Thanks to this, the creature can do without water for several years.

Giant cricket - the most large insect living in New Zealand. The length of the veta is about 10 cm, and the weight reaches 85 g. Translated from Greek, the name means “terrible grasshopper”, and it fully justifies it.

When danger approaches, the insect straightens its long hind limbs, hoping to scare away the enemy with its appearance. But the unique feature of the tree veta is not in this, but in the ability to survive at low temperatures. In the blood of an insect there is a protein that prevents blood clotting. At the same time, his consciousness most of internal organs"turned off" to save vital energy. When the Veta warms up, their functionality is fully restored.

cockroaches

Very tenacious creatures that are difficult to get rid of. It is believed that they are even able to endure nuclear explosion. However, it is still known for sure that cockroaches can live for several weeks without a head.

The functions of the brain are taken over by ganglion cells. They, like breathing holes, are located throughout the body of the insect. Blood circulation is also not regulated by the brain.

Interesting!

The cockroach lives until the reserves of food eaten earlier are exhausted in its body.

The most ancient marine animal got its name because of the special shape of the shell, similar to the tongue (from the Latin lingula - “tongue”). Fossilized remains of Lingulata are found in the early Kebrian layer (about 540 BC).

They outlived almost all ancient animals, including dinosaurs. The secret of such endurance and invulnerability probably lies in the heavy-duty lingulate shell. It consists of chitin, protein and calcium phosphate, while in other molluscs it is only Ca carbonate.

Animals of this species are known for their amazing endurance and longevity. Land turtles live on average 50-100 years, however, there are cases when the age of some individuals exceeded 150 years.

The oldest of them, Advaita, at the time of her death in 2006, according to various sources, was from 150 to 250 years old. She lived in the city zoo of Calcutta (India). The oldest turtle of the living, Jonathan is recognized. He is now 187 years old. The male lives on Saint Helena.

One of the longest living creatures on earth. The maximum officially recorded age of the fish was 205 years. Scientists identified it by the number of rings on the auditory ossicle.

The length of the Aleutian perch usually reaches 90-87 cm, and the weight does not exceed 6.6 kg. The fish lives in the seas at a depth of 160-445 meters, but larger individuals are found at around 2600-2800 m under water. The perch feeds on small fish (anchovies, silverfish), crabs, crustaceans and worms.

Interesting!

The secret of the vitality of fish lies in the peculiarities of metabolism - it grows very slowly, reaching sexual maturity only a few decades after birth.

Poisonous arachnids are extremely hardy. Their body is protected by a strong chitinous shell, and their sharp eyesight, sense of smell and the ability to feel vibrations help to quickly find the victim.

However, a scorpion can live without food for two years if it is not eaten by a hungry relative. well tolerated low temperatures and humidity less than 20%. During the experiment, the scorpion was frozen overnight, and in the morning it was placed in heat again - the insect thawed and came to life. In addition, arachnids are resistant to radiation and, according to some scientists, are able to survive a nuclear war.

Wasps infect the victim with deadly viruses that suppress its immunity. This is necessary so that the caterpillar does not survive and does not get rid of the rider. Braconid wasps do not die after exposure to 180,000 rads, while for humans the lethal dose is 900.

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Many animals have adapted to certain living conditions, but some of them are champions of their kind. They are so resistant to death that they are practically immortal. They are able to withstand extreme temperatures, sudden changes in climate, and a variety of other conditions that are lethal to a normal creature. In this collection, we will tell you about five such creatures.

1. Immortal jellyfish

Turritopsis nutricula is better known as the immortal jellyfish and fully deserves its nickname. After reaching puberty, this creature again returns to the initial stage of the polyp and begins to mature again. This process can be endless life cycle can be repeated an unlimited number of times. Like the protagonist of the movie Interesting story Benjamin Button, the jellyfish gets old, then gets younger again, and so on ad infinitum

2. Hydra

Hydra is somewhat similar to the immortal jellyfish. But this process has not yet been fully explored by scientists. It is known that the hydra has special chambers that easily die off and are replaced by new ones. This greatly simplifies the process of removing toxins and getting rid of various defects.

3. Fish Lang

The lungs of this small fish are its main weapon, making it immortal. They allow her to survive very long periods of drought, lasting up to a year. This fish can dig alive into the mud and hibernate for a whole summer, easily surviving a period of drought without any nutrients. An interesting experiment was accidentally carried out with fish lang - during transportation, the metal cube with mud, where it was placed, was lost. It was found only after 6 months, while the mud turned into a dry monolith. She was slightly diluted with water, and the fish continued to breathe as if nothing had happened after half a year

4. Tardigrade

She is called a water bear, although she has nothing to do with him. If bears were as tenacious, they would not be endangered now. This slow moving microscopic animal lives in the water. With a length of only one and a half millimeters, the tardigrade can be found all over the world, from the Himalayas and the equator to the far polar regions.
areas. This creature is highly adaptable to weather conditions, making it unusually resistant to death. The tardigrade can survive minus 273 degrees Celsius and plus 151 degrees. The creature also withstands radiation doses up to 1000 times the maximum dose for any other creature on the planet. Ten years without moisture is also not a problem for the tardigrade. In 2007, tardigrades were placed in a complete vacuum in low orbit. Surprisingly, they were still alive when they returned to Earth.

5. Tree veta

The tree veta is giant insect, similar to a cockroach, and lives in New Zealand. However, it is able to survive in colder countries. There is a special protein in his blood that prevents blood from stopping. Even under the influence of large sub-zero temperatures, his blood will still function. In this case, the heart and brain of the insect will be completely disabled, like a zombie. But miraculously, they will start working again when the insect thaws.

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For normal life, all living organisms need a number of conditions of approximately the same level: average temperature from -10 to +35 degrees, the presence of water in a liquid state and the absence of external harmful effects, radiation for example. A critical (i.e., sharp and large) change in these conditions for most living beings will mean death. But there is an animal on Earth that literally destroys all our ideas about life and the limits in which it can exist.

This animal - . The tardigrade is a microscopic animal that looks like a tiny bear, which is probably why they were called "little water bears" by their discoverer, the German I. Getze. Their body length can range from 0.1 to 1.5 millimeters, depending on the species. Speaking of species, more than 900 species of tardigrades are now known to be found around the world in the most various places and conditions. Most tardigrades belong to terrestrial species, but some species prefer the water element and inhabit both small fresh water bodies and the seas and oceans.

Tardigrade recognized most hardy creature on the ground, no other creature is able to survive in the conditions in which the tardigrade can survive. This tiny animal can easily withstand extremely high and extremely low temperatures, ultra-high pressure, the complete absence of moisture, the absence of air and vacuum, as well as huge doses of radiation.

To be more specific, tardigrades survive at temperatures from +190 before -279 degrees Celsius, moreover, they are not only able to survive in such extreme conditions, for some species such temperatures are the norm (for tardigrades living near underwater thermal springs, a temperature of 110-120 degrees is quite common).

As for the drought, here the "water bears" distinguished themselves even more noticeably - with a long absence of water, they are able to fall into anabiosis(cessation or a very strong slowdown of all processes in the body, the so-called imaginary death). During suspended animation, their body decreases in size and is covered with something similar to wax in order to retain the smallest traces of moisture. Anabiosis can last up to 2 years, and in order to come to life, only a drop of water will be enough.

this is what a tardigrade looks like in a state of suspended animation

A number of experiments by Japanese scientists have confirmed other incredible abilities of tardigrades: - able to withstand maximum pressure 600 MPa (for example, at the bottom of the Martian Trench, under an 11-kilometer layer of water, the pressure is 100 MPa); - transfer the level of radiation to 10 times more than any other animal.

If you think that only cockroaches can survive a nuclear explosion, then you are wrong. Before you - the most tenacious creature on the planet. It can survive in space, with the strongest radiation, at the bottom of the ocean, in a frozen state, being alive without air, food and food for years. It seems that this creature is immortal. Meet the Little Water Bear, or Tardigrade. […]

Meet the Little Water Bear, or Tardigrade.

Science has known tardigrades for a long time. This species of microscopic invertebrates was discovered back in 1773. It is because of the similarity with the bear, despite the eight legs, that the creature received the name Little Water Bear or Moss Pig.

With their paws, they cling to everything in a row or simply use them as flippers when they are in the water. Tardigrades breathe through their skin. Despite the fact that tardigrades do not belong to the class of insects, their body is covered with a chitinous cover, and they also molt.

Why are they so alive?

Scientists still cannot find the answer to this question. Tardigrades were sent into outer space. In addition to the vacuum of space, tardigrades have undergone solar radiation, which is a thousand times (!!!) higher than the background of the earth.

And what do you think?

These creatures not only survived. They quietly laid eggs and multiplied.

What is paradoxical: tardigrades, like no other in the world, are able to instantly adapt to an extreme environment. Scientists threw them into boiling water, and the tardigrades swam there for an hour, after which they simply curled up and hibernated. At a temperature of minus 273°C, tardigrades roamed around calmly, breeding. These creatures were placed in alcohol, helium, other liquids, absolutely unsuitable for survival, and they lived quietly there.

So it's safe to say that this is the most tenacious creature on the planet. And perhaps the most amazing thing.

Send this creature into space, or to the bottom of the deepest ocean, deprive it of air, water and food for decades, or expose it to radiation - it will not die. Meet the most tenacious creature on Earth - a tardigrade, or water bear

The tardigrade is a microscopic, water-dwelling invertebrate with eight bear-like legs, which they usually use to cling to moss or lichen. Because of these features, they received the nickname "Water Bear" or "Moss Piglet"

breathe tardigrades through the skin, they have no respiratory organs and circulatory system. However, the anatomy of a water bear is quite complex. And that's why they are called water bears, isn't it, they look alike:

The body of the tardigrade is covered with a chitinous shell, and regularly sheds, like insects. Depending on where they live, water bears can be colored differently, from orange to bright red to green and olive (for those individuals that live on mosses and lichens). There can be up to 25,000 tardigrades in a liter of water.

In September 2007, the European Space Agency sent several specimens into space to a height of 160 miles. Some water bears were only exposed to vacuum, some were also exposed to radiation, 1000 times higher than the Earth's background radiation. All tardigrades not only survived, but also laid eggs, successfully breeding.

Thus, they have joined several species of bacteria and lichens that can survive in space. In the picture, tardigrade eggs in the exoskeleton:

The more extreme environment, the more high the ability of tardigrades to adapt. These facts are so amazing that it is hard to believe in them, nevertheless they are true. the most living being on Earth, capable of being exposed to temperatures of -273°C, which is almost absolute zero. The water bear will not disappear even when heated to 151 ° C, it will live without water for several decades, it will withstand radiation that is 1000 times higher than the lethal level for humans. In addition to everything, you can put them in a vacuum, in an alcohol solution and in liquid helium - they will feel great. Under the microscope:

What is the secret of such survivability of tardigrades? They are not only able to reach a state where their metabolism practically stops, but also to maintain this state for years at any time during their existence. Here is an example of an arctic Adorybiotus coronifer frozen like this:

But the seasonal changes of this creature depending on weather conditions (1 - cold fall and winter; 2 - spring; 3 - active form, summer; 4 - molt):

Thus, the existence of tardigrades refutes the theory that only cockroaches can survive a nuclear explosion. This creature is much more tenacious, many times smaller than a cockroach, and also much cuter :)