Unsurprisingly, tardigrade sex is a bit unconventional. And according to a study in the Zoological Journal, the toughest animal in the world engages in an awful lot of foreplay. But how do tardigrades reproduce ? Let's take a closer look.
Advertisement When it comes to reproduction, tardigrades demonstrate incredible adaptability . Some species can switch between sexual and asexual reproduction, based on environmental conditions. Many tardigrade species reproduce sexually, with males releasing sperm into the female's body cavity where fertilization occurs.
The female will then lay eggs that hatch into tiny new tardigrades. Advertisement Some hermaphrodite species — which have both male and female reproductive organs — are able to self-fertilize. This is an ideal trait for living in extreme environments, like the deep sea or sand dunes, where finding a mate is as rare as winning the lottery.
Both asexual and sexual reproduction occur in tardigrades. Parthenogenesis, the only confirmed asexual method, involves females producing offspring from unfertilized eggs, creating clones of themselves. Studies in the Journal of Experimental Biology and Covich's Freshwater Invertebrates reveal more about their superpowers, showing how these microscopic marvels thrive in extreme conditions and make invertebrate reproduction look easy.
Mysterious Water Bears Caught in the Act Video footage captured by a team of researchers at the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History in Görlitz, German.