Abstract
The taxon Tardigrada, belonging to the supertaxon Panarthropoda and commonly known as "water bears," comprises minute organisms (50 to 1200 ¿m) with a robust, barrel-shaped body covered by a non-calcified cuticle. They possess four pairs of locomotor appendages equipped with claws or adhesive glands and a specialized buccopharyngeal apparatus. Tardigrades are remarkable for their ability …