Bärtierchen: Eine ganze Tiergruppe in der Nahaufnahme

Tardigrade: A Whole Animal Phylum

Look closely at this tardigrade. In the photograph, a pale, rounded body stands over a rough reddish-brown surface. Its body is partly transparent, and orange and brown areas can be seen inside it. The background is almost black, so the light animal is easy to see. Small blurred shapes appear around it, but the image does not show what they are. The supplied record calls tardigrade a phylum of animals. A phylum is a very large group used in animal classification. So this name refers to a whole animal group, not only to the individual in the picture. The same record gives 1773 as the discovery date. This connects the close-up image with a scientific record that reaches back to 1773. The picture shows a subject; the supplied facts do not give its size, habitat, or behavior.