Meet the most indestructible animal on earth!

Tardigrades are microscopic eight-legged animals that have been to outer space and would likely survive the apocalypse. Bonus: They look like adorable miniature bears.

Around 1,300 species of tardigrades are found worldwide. Considered aquatic because they require a thin layer of water around their bodies to prevent dehydration, they’ve also been observed in all kinds of environments, from the deep sea to sand dunes. Freshwater mosses and lichens are their preferred habitat, hence their nickname, moss piglet.

Despite looking squishy, tardigrades are covered in a tough cuticle, similar to the exoskeletons of grasshoppers, praying mantises, and other insects to which they are related. Like those insects, tardigrades have to shed their cuticles in order to grow. They have four to six claws on each foot, which helps them cling to plant matter, and a specialized mouth part called a bucco pharyngeal apparatus, which allows them to suck nutrients from plants and microorganisms.

Tiny and tough
Tardigrades belong to an elite category of animals known as extremophiles, or critters that can survive environments that most others can't. For instance, tardigrades can go up to 30 years without food or water. They can also live at temperatures as cold as absolute zero or above boiling, at pressures six times that of the ocean’s deepest trenches, and in the vacuum of space.