The Tardigrade

The tardigrade, or water bear,
Is found to live most anywhere
With water. It can even go
To 15,000 feet below
Or Himalayan Mountain peaks.
No wonder lots of science geeks
Have studied its survival skill:
It lives through what would surely kill
Most other life, like radiation.
What’s the secret? Dehydration
Turns it to a ball, or tun.
That’s close to death and thus no fun,
But once conditions get much more
Hospitable, it’s like before.
Biologists have resurrected
Tuns they knew (or else suspected)
Hadn’t moved in many years.
It looks as though our biggest fears
For mass extinction won’t erase
The tardigrade from anyplace.