Cryptobiosis is a physiological state in which metabolic activity is reduced to an undetectable level without disappearing altogether. It is known in certain plant and animal groups adapted to survive periods of extremely dry conditions.
Tardigrade (Little Water Bear) is one Perfect example. They have been found everywhere, from mountaintops to the deep sea, mud volcanoes and from tropical rainforests to the Antarctic.
Tardigrades are among the most resilient animals known with individual species able to survive extreme conditions—such as exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme pressures (both high and low), air deprivation, radiation, dehydration, and starvation—that would quickly kill most other known forms of life.
Tardigrades have survived exposure to outer space. About 1,150 known species form the phylum Tardigrada, the group includes fossils dating from 530 million years ago, in the Cambian period.
See Also – Biological Immortality
