Tardigrade, water bear
Amazing fact
Female Ramazzottius varieornatus tardigrades reproduce by laying eggs without mating.
東京大学大学院理学系研究科・理学部
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Female Ramazzottius varieornatus tardigrades reproduce by laying eggs without mating.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Tardigrade, water bear
- Scientific name
- Ramazzottius varieornatus
- Japanese name
- ヨコヅナクマムシ(クマムシ)
- Group
- Tiny animals
- Class
- Eutardigrada
- Order
- Parachela
- Family
- Hypsibiidae
- Genus
- Ramazzottius
Ramazzottius varieornatus is a tardigrade species discovered in Sapporo.
Its strong tolerance of drying makes it useful in research on how animals resist dehydration.
How the Tardigrade, water bear lives
It lives in moss growing on concrete. When water around it disappears, it loses body water, shrinks, and enters an almost completely dry dormant state.
慶應義塾大学先端生命科学研究所The University of TokyoWatch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 東京大学医科学研究所 — クマムシ耐性タンパク質によるストレスに応答した細胞の硬化Checked: 2026-11-03
- The University of Tokyo — Ramazzottius varieornatus, the most resilient tardigradeChecked: 2026-11-05
- 慶應義塾大学先端生命科学研究所 — クマムシ乾眠能力の違いのメカニズムは、その準備段階にあり！Checked: 2026-11-06
- 東京大学大学院理学系研究科・理学部 — 最強動物「クマムシ」のゲノム改変を可能にChecked: 2026-11-06
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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