In this review we analyze the dormancy strategies of metazoans inhabiting “hostile to life”
habitats, which have a strong impact on their ecology and in particular on the traits of their …

Tardigrades often colonise extreme habitats, in which they survive using both types of
dormancy: quiescence and diapause. Together with nematodes and bdelloid rotifers …

The current state of knowledge about anhydrobiosis in tardigrades is presented. In response
to adverse environmental conditions tardigrades arrest their metabolic activity and after …

Many limno-terrestrial tardigrades live in unstable habitats where they experience extreme
environmental conditions such as drought, heat and subzero temperatures. Although their …

Living in harsh and variable environments that are prone to periodic desiccation, tardigrades
exhibit remarkable tolerance against physical extremes through a state known as …

Tardigrades are microscopic animals found worldwide in aquatic as well as terrestrial
ecosystems. They belong to the invertebrate superclade Ecdysozoa, as do the two major …

Life is set within a narrow frame of physicochemical factors, yet, some species have adapted
to conditions far beyond these constraints. Nature appears to have evolved two principal …

Survival in microhabitats that experience extreme fluctuations in water availability and
temperature requires special adaptations. To withstand such environmental conditions …

A common mechanism by which organisms adapt to physiological stress is to reduce
metabolism and enter a state of quiescence (Cooper & Van Gundy, 19-71; Evans & Perry, I …

Most terrestrial tardigrade species possess the ability to enter a reversible ametabolic state
termed anhydrobiosis in response to desiccation. In the anhydrobiotic state, tardigrades …