Facts and fiction about long-term survival in tardigrades

Abstract

Tardigrades have achieved a widespread reputation for an ability to survive more than a century in an inactive, ametabolic state called cryptobiosis. However, a closer look at the empirical evidence provides little support for the claim that tardigrades are capable of century-long survival. Instead, current evidence suggests that a decade may more realistically represent the upper limit of cryptobiotic survival in the most resistant tardigrades.