Tardigrades: Tardigrades belong to the phylum Tardigrada of kingdom Animalia. Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1777 named them Tardigradum which means "slow walker". Tardigrades are eight legged microscopic animals. They’re commonly known as water bears or moss piglets. We have discovered 1000+ species of tardigrades till now. The name "water-bear" comes from the way of their gait, as they look like a bear walking; Mosses and lichens are their preferred habitat hence their nickname, moss piglet. Tardigrades are naturally found on mountaintops, in the deep sea, in tropical rain forests and even the frigid Antarctic. Most species are found to be living in freshwater or semiaquatic terrestrial environments. They’re considered aquatic because they need water around their bodies for gaseous exchanges as well as to prevent themselves from drying out (desiccation). Tardigrades are covered in a tough cuticle, similar to the exoskeletons of grasshoppers, praying mant