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What is cryptobiosis?
Some animals and plants go into cryptobiosis if the climate is too cold or the oxygen is too low.
Another name for germination is?
Cryptobiosis
What are three examples of hibernation?
"Cryptobiosis" allows organisms to live indefinitely until hostile environmental conditions improve sufficiently for survival. This is often associated with such adverse conditions as oxygen deficiency, freezing, or desiccation. "Brumation" is also similar to hibernation, occurring in reptilian species, for as long as eight months. "Aestivation" (or "estivation" in American English) allows animals to avoid the risk of desiccation from higher than normal temperatures .
What are tardigrades?
Tardigrades (Waterbears) are a phylum of invertebrate animals, belonging to the articulata and containing app. 750 species. They are a sister group to arthropoda, though some aspects remind to nematods. Tardigrades are quite small meiofaunal animals, the body length ranges between 0.08 mm and 1.5 mm. They have usually four pair of legs (in some species a reduction occurs) and a nervous system with ventral ganglia and a lobed brain. The body is covered with a cuticle that is shed several times during development . The cuticle is chitinous. There is no metamorphosis, though young tardigrades may look slightly different to adults. Tardigrades are oviparous. Some species are facultative parthenogenic, some may be obligatoric parthenogenetic. The fertilization may be internal or external. Tardigrades occur in quite different, also very extreme - environments, from deep sea to the highest mountains, from the tropic to the arctic and antarctic. All Tardigrades are bound to water (marine or fresh water) for active life. They also live on mossy place. Some groups are able to dry up to a cryptobiosis, thus withstanding extreme dryness, heat, deep temperatures (<30 K!) and radiation. During active life they are vulnerable by radiation, as shown by Josh Middleton.
Which organism can change the shape?
Several organisms have the remarkable ability to change their shape. This ability is often referred to as "shape-shifting" or "morphological plasticity." Here are some examples of organisms from various taxonomic groups that can change their shape: Amoebae (e.g., Amoeba proteus): Amoebae are single-celled protists known for their shape-changing abilities, enabled by pseudopodia, temporary cytoplasmic extensions they use for movement and capturing food. Cephalopods (e.g., octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish): Cephalopods are highly intelligent marine animals. They have soft bodies and can rapidly alter the texture, color, and shape of their skin to blend in with their surroundings and communicate with other individuals. Flatworms (e.g., planarians): Flatworms are simple, bilaterally symmetrical animals that possess regenerative abilities. They can alter their body shape and regenerate lost body parts. Tardigrades (water bears): Tardigrades are micro-animals known for their extreme resilience. They can undergo a process called cryptobiosis, where they lose almost all water content and shrink into a tun-like shape, surviving extreme conditions. Slime molds (e.g., Physarum polycephalum): Slime molds are unique organisms that can change their shape to optimize nutrient absorption. They exhibit complex behavior despite being single-celled during some stages of their life cycle. Sea cucumbers: Sea cucumbers are echinoderms that can change their body shape dramatically by contracting their body wall muscles or expelling their internal organs as a defense mechanism. Bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli): Some bacteria, like Escherichia coli, can change shape based on environmental conditions. For example, they can shift from a rod-like shape to a spherical shape under certain stresses. Hydra: Hydras are small, simple, freshwater animals capable of changing their body shape during feeding and locomotion. Proteus anguinus (olm or cave salamander): The olm is a blind, aquatic salamander known for its adaptability and ability to change its body shape based on the environment and feeding habits. Flowering plants (e.g., Mimosa pudica, Venus flytrap): Some plants can undergo rapid shape changes in response to stimuli. For instance, the sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica) folds its leaves when touched, and the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) snaps its trap shut when triggered by an insect. These examples highlight the diversity of organisms that possess the ability to change their shape, either as a part of their natural behavior or in response to environmental cues. The ability to alter shape plays a crucial role in their survival, feeding strategies, and defense mechanisms.
What is a sea monkey?
This article is about brine shrimp marketed to children. For other uses, see SeaMonkey and The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys. Sea-Monkeys Other names Instant Life Type Novelty aquarium pet Country United States Availability 1962–present Sea-Monkeys are a novelty aquarium pet, a type of brine shrimp that undergoes cryptobiosis. Developed in the United States in 1957,[1] by Harold von Braunhut, the shrimp are intended to be added to water, and almost always come bundled in a 3-pouch kit with other required pouches and instructions. Sometimes a small tank and/or supplementary pouches may also be included with the product. The product was heavily marketed in the 1960s and 70s, especially in comic books, and remains a presence in popular culture.[2] Contents 1 History 2 Legal history 3 Use 4 Biology 5 See also 6 References History Sea-Monkeys Ant farms had been popularized in 1956 by Milton Levine.[3] Harold von Braunhut invented a brine-shrimp-based product the next year, 1957.[3] Von Braunhut collaborated with marine biologist Dr. Anthony D'Agostino to develop the proper mix of nutrients and chemicals in dry form that could be added to plain tap water to create an accommodating habitat for the shrimp to thrive. Von Braunhut was granted a patent for this process on July 4, 1972.[4] They were initially called "Instant Life" and sold for $0.49,[5] but von Braunhut changed the name to "Sea-Monkeys" in 1962. The new name was based on their salt-water habitat, together with the supposed resemblance of the animals' tails to those of monkeys.[6] Sea-Monkeys were intensely marketed in comic books throughout the 1960s and early 1970s[6] using illustrations by the comic-book illustrator Joe Orlando. These showed humanoid animals that bear no resemblance to the crustaceans.[7] Many purchasers were disappointed by the dissimilarity and by the short lifespan of the animals.[6] Von Braunhut is quoted as stating: "I think I bought something like 3.2 million pages of comic book advertising a year. It worked beautifully."[6] Legal history The company that markets Sea-Monkeys today, Transcience Corporation[8] (not the same company that created them[9]) continues to operate, with its legal status questioned during its 4-year long lawsuit originally filed on September 24, 2013 by von Braunhut's widow, and against the company that is alleged to have illegally manufactured them, Big Time Toys.[2][10] Additionally, it was alleged that Big Time Toys breached their contract by not paying royalties for the rights to market the Sea Monkeys product,[11] then made their own from outside sources.[12] On April 24, 2017, it was ruled in a court of law that Transcience Corp. "failed to adequately show that she was the owner of the trademarks at the time the Complaint was filed."[13] As such, the lawsuit has been dropped.[14] Use A colony is started by adding the contents of a packet labelled "Water Purifier" to a tank of water. This packet contains salt, water conditioner, and some brine shrimp eggs. After 24 hours, this is augmented with the contents of a packet labeled "Instant Life Eggs", containing more eggs, yeast, borax, soda, salt, some food and sometimes a dye.[7] Shortly thereafter, Sea-Monkeys hatch from the eggs that were in the "Water Purifier" packet. "Growth Food" containing yeast and spirulina is then added every few days. The best temperature for hatching is 24–27 °C (75–81 °F).[7] Extra and supplementary pouches can be purchased on the official website,[15] though these are not required for the well-being of the shrimp. Biology Two Artemia salina The animals sold as Sea-Monkeys are claimed to be an artificial breed known as Artemia NYOS, formed by hybridising different species of Artemia.[6] They are also claimed to live longer and grow bigger than ordinary brine shrimp; however, there are no references to these claims outside marketing material from the manufacturer.[5] They undergo cryptobiosis or anhydrobiosis, a condition of apparent lifelessness which allows them to survive the desiccation of the temporary pools in which they live.[3] Astronaut John Glenn took Sea-Monkeys into space on October 29, 1998, aboard Space Shuttle Discovery during mission STS-95. After nine days in space, they were returned to Earth, and hatched eight weeks later apparently unaffected by their travels.[7] However, earlier experiments on Apollo 16 and Apollo 17, where the eggs (along with other biological systems in a state of rest, such as spores, seeds and cysts) traveled to the Moon and back and were exposed to significant cosmic rays, observed a high sensitivity to cosmic radiation in the Artemia salina eggs; only 10% of the embryos which were induced to develop from eggs survived to adulthood. The most common mutations found during the developmental stages of the irradiated eggs were deformations of the abdomen or deformations on the swimming appendages and naupliar eye of the nauplius.[16]
