The 18th Century Tardigrade Debate

[@journeytomicro]

Check out "Study Hall: US history to 1865” as they explore American History from the earliest Indigenous groups to the Civil War. bit.ly/StudyHallHistory

[@athowar]

Hi, this channel has given me a great interest in the microscopic world. I've been working to restore an antique microscope that my grandfather's brother had given me. It is dated from around the late 1890's to early 1920's. Last night I finally had cleaned the lenses enough to look at the individual pixels on my phones display, today I got to see the fibers that make up my jacket. It'll be a while before I look at any organisms as I have to get the other lenses cleaned but when I get to look at puddle water, ill be thinking of you all. Thanks again.

[@gtbkts]

Cool!

[@doctor_owl]

Good luck with your project! My parents bought me a small microscope at OMSI when I was a kid and that thing was awesome. I made my own slides and used to be "that kid" who could pull out the microscope to impress my friends, haha. I had it for 20 years and then donated it to my local community college after one of their lab microscopes was stolen. I'm glad I helped but at the same time I always kinda wish I hadn't given it away!

[@farvision]

You can use a toothpick to scrape the inside of your cheek. Put in a drop of water to see your own cells!

[@commie281]

Wow that’s awesome, good luck

[@gilbertlopez]

Post what you find in the water!

[@kendall658]

Please please PLEASE make a microcosmos scientifically accurate tardigrade plushy! Little claws included🔬

[@gamingclipz7309]

Or ya could go online and spend 20$ to get one made… it’s super cheap so why would you want someone else to make you one that’ll cost 10x more??

[@yonneye2427]

@@gamingclipz7309 I would assume the you reason would is to ensure the emphasis of *scientifically accurate* .

[@marnenotmarnie259]

@@yonneye2427and to support creators you appreciate rather than drop shippers

[@kellyharper367]

Yes! In 3 sizes: hand size, 12" and 18-20". A must have for science geek persons of all ages!!!!

[@DwightLivesMatter]

@@marnenotmarnie259They drop ship as well from the overseas factories too lol.

[@merlapittman5034]

I can see where the confusion came from, because the last two legs of the tardigrade could easily be seen as tail-like or missed entirely. I've been fascinated by these little creatures since I first heard about them. Excellent video!

[@ZelosDomingo]

That note at the end perfectly encapsulates my feelings. A strange sensation to share with a person who has been gone for so long.

[@veramae4098]

You might enjoy "Ants, Bees and Wasps" by Sir John Lubbock (Yeah, the Texas town was named after him) written about the late 1700's when scientific observation was starting to take off. Includes his friendship with a particular wasp, an urgent horse ride to Parliament where he was a member, and his failure to identify bees language because he kept them inside -- away from the sun. (They use the sun as a central point of communication.) Reprints are available, and it's also on Kindle.

[@ardendolas]

Goeze's quote at the end is a perfect way to describe what this channel embodies. Such a fascinating world!

[@shohamghosh4942]

Goeze's quote at the end gave me chills!!!! As a dedicated microscopist, I felt that.

[@dlanska]

Very interesting, but even if they have 8 "legs" the most posterior 2 seem functionally different in terems of forward propulsion. When the animal is moving forward, the last pair of legs does not move in the same manner as the other 3. Some discussion of the function of the last pair, or of these differences would be interesting.

[@dlanska]

@@priapulida Thank you. Yes, that is what it looked like with forward locomotion, but that seemed to vary with twisting, turning, backing up. I should have checked Wikipedia, which I assume is where you were quoting from. The original souce is given there as "ON WATER BEARS" by Frank A. Romano.: Florida Entomologist, 2003;86(2):134-137. This is free to download online.

[@omnijack]

Okay so -- because I'm tired of timelines shifting on me -- I returned to an earlier part of the video. Then I realized that, in some representations, the rear two legs are easily missed. Their movement is also different (pushing out behind the tardigrade, instead of crawling like the others), so sometimes my eye would ignore it as a motile posterior.

[@karolwaach6089]

Yes, that is because they use it more to support their body while crawling through environment, or to anchor them on the substrate while trying to reach some places. The 3 first pairs are used for active locomotion

[@AlienXtream1]

so then the correct question isn't "how many legs does it have?" but rather "are these things at the back legs or not?"

[@karolwaach6089]

@@AlienXtream1 Yes, they are, though in the course of evolution they have "twisted" and became less mobile so to be more of a support rather than source of locomotion :)

[@Beryllahawk]

Thank you for articulating this a heck of a lot more clearly than I could. That's exactly what my eyes have been doing, because when Hank said eight, I straight up said "What??" And had to stare at the images for over half the video, thinking I'm insane.

[@humanearthling1847]

same 4 me

[@revenevan11]

That final quote was lovely 😊. It sounds like if KZbin was around during the time of Goeze, he would have beaten you all to the punch and made a "microcosmos" channel of his own! 😁

[@Kram1032]

3:19 FYI Hank, "ä" is pronoucned pretty much exactly like the "ea" in "bear". A "Wasserbar" is a "water inn", something rather different :P

[@unvergebeneid]

Oh don't worry, Hank butchered pretty much every language known to man in this short video, not just German ;)

[@Peter1986C]

Also, an -s for plural and a use of what seems to be put in dative case for some reason. Then again, when it comes to German I might not be the best possible person to comment on this channel's knowledge of grammar.

[@Kram1032]

@@Peter1986C I thought applying the plural was comparatively fine lol Waterbearen

[@unvergebeneid]

@@Peter1986C genitive, not dative but yes, it was odd.

[@catbaril9072]

I never realized I could use bear as an example for this sound! It exists in French too, which I teach, that’ll be so useful!

[@playimages5705]

You know what, if y'all can design a tardigrade plush that is distinctly unique to this channel, maybe it could even be modeled after an actual tardigrade James captured and studied that tardigrades unique physical characteristics, like how some colony insects actually have distinct facial markings that makes them different from each other in their own family. Just saying it'd be pretty cool

[@alexanderwinslow3422]

I counted six when asked, one pair just always seems to blend in.

[@CordovaMage]

Its a symmetry issue. The final pair get filtered out by our brains because they break the otherwise uniform symmetry of the rest of the critters legs.

[@aleanachamaillard5226]

Thank you Hank! I love how you narrate everything. Super calming and so interesting, I have been listening to these for my kidfree momma alone time after work while playing phone games to fall asleep 😁 Thank you keep these up !!!

[@you2angel1]

6 legs are cheaper to mass produce. Like 4 fingers are cheaper to animate versus 5. The persons who designed the toys to be mass produced probably are aware that Tardigrades have 8 legs. Not sure but there was something about Ursula in Disney's animated film The Little Mermaid on how many tentacles she has versus what an octopus has. Again it all evolves around cost in production. °~•.☆.•~°

[@harry.tallbelt6707]

OMG, KZbin ADDED MULTIPLE AUDIOTRACKS, that's so cool !

[@xiaohanma2584]

This is the funniest video I've watched in this channel so far. made me laugh ao much. Thank you for the amazing footages as always!

[@SandyofCthulhu]

This made me do a quick back-check, and I am proud to say that the demon Tardigrade figure I've produced for my Planet Apocalypse game in fact has 8 legs. Whew.

[@AbbieBrockhurst]

I swear Hank did this about ten years ago with Dimetrodon being included in Dinosaur toy sets. A mini rant about the cultural perception vs the scientific fact in toy products.

[@doctor_owl]

Same thing with pterodactyls! They aren't dinosaurs but seem to get grouped under them colloquially in toys and movies

[@cerberaodollam]

Steve Bellettini has a whole channel like that 😂

[@dragonlloux]

I though the argument would be that the rear two would not be legs and I could see that, since they moved very differently to the other appendages

[@everettehungerford2858]

Having now been acquainted with the Ramazzaottius I must now endeavour to discover a new creature so that I might name it Razzamattazius.

[@MrCmon113]

3:20 German "Bär" sounds almost exactly like English "bear".

[@JLujan4492]

Depending on which species, it could be hard to tell that there's 8 legs due to how small the back pair is. I have a few slides from the genus Hypsibius, and the hind legs are small, but you can definitely tell that they are present.

[@LendriMujina]

"Why do you keep counting that tardigrade's legs? Didn't you settle that debate?" "Well, it's _not_ because I keep wanting to tickle his little pawsies... for science >_>"

[@urinstein1864]

"kleinen Wasserbärs" is the genitive form, so in the nominative Goeze called it a "kleiner Wasserbär". "des kleinen Wasserbärs" is more like "the small waterbear's" or "of the small waterbear".

[@D_Cragoon]

Oh do the plushies, pretty please!

[@urquizabr]

Two comments: 1. the Portuguese and Spanish audio tracks are by far not soothing as Hank's narration; 2. Hank saying Wasserbär without Umlaut was pretty adorable. (Since ä-Umlaut in German always sounds like the a in cat, not the a in bar, Hank was calling tardigrades "water bars", instead of "water bears". 😂

[@williek08472]

The confusion probably arises because the back pair of legs can look like part of a "tail", rather than limbs

[@thetafritz9868]

8:40, kinda happy to hear your french pronunciation, unhappy at the lack of an attempt for German pronunciations

[@reneegaudet9843]

The French was great, I always appreciate whenever people attempt the French words :)

[@Microscopyenthusiast]

Tardigrades do not care what humans think about how many legs a water bear should have. They have more important things to do.😀

[@ronanclark2129]

Biologists: 😢😢😭can't be alive no homeostasis 😔😔😰 Tardigrade: *dry as hot chocolate mix* Viruses: 📍

[@shaunthomason3712]

I swear that quote and I burst into tears

[@HellOnWheel]

A layman's question asked sincerely: what bridges the gap between single-celled microbes and 1,000-10,000 celled ones? Is there a 100 celled organism? 10 celled? 2? Is there a "missing link" between single- and multi-cellular life?

[@FinalSentinel]

Check out their video titled “how did multicellularity evolve?” . You’ll find lots of great examples of much simpler multi-cellular life and creatures with extremely few cells.

[@HellOnWheel]

@@FinalSentinel thanks, I'll check it out!

[@gerhardvanniekerk7703]

Awesome, well done to you and the team Hank.

[@SheilaTheGrate]

Yes, we need an accurate tardigrade plushies

[@gray42069]

I actually get so excited when theres another JTTM upload

[@elizabethgall5327]

At 6:09, Hank says “physicist” but the captions say “physician”. Thanks for the fun video!

[@yahyaf2132]

He was a physician

[@glazedshades4692]

JTTM posted today. Today is gonna be a good day

[@Diecastclassicist]

My plush tardigrade has eight legs, whew! But yes, you should make more tardigrade merch. I bought the shirt.

[@nicstroud]

5:03 It's not quite clear to us how the consensus that tardigrades have eight legs was settled. I imagine looking at them helped, unless someone gave them all little questionnaires.

[@martf1061]

8:40 Love the effort you made in your French prononciation. 👍🙂

[@eg-fi3ju]

would it be possible for microscopic life to effect you? like, could you get itchy from a hydra?

[@alexwood9941]

Everyone can agree, 6 legs is cute, 8 legs is nightmare. Because tardigrades are so cute we all assumed 6 legs.

[@bengoodwin2141]

I thought tardigrades had 6 legs, but now I see that they have 8, and some of them just fold their back legs behind them or have them rotated out of focus

[@pandoraalberts5267]

Most people think spiders have six legs (and that they are an insect...🙄). Incidentally... I thought a motile posterior is what the Kardashians have.

[@stephanieswartz]

While watching, I had to check my plushy tardigrade. Yep, 8 legs.

[@culwin]

European descriptions and drawings of exotic mammals were really bad too (so bad, that it's probably where a lot of mythological creatures came from). Maybe the most famous result of this is Sweden's stuffed lion.

[@Alondro77]

Arachnophobe, "Oh how cute tardigrades are with their 6 little legs!" Me, "Tardigrades have 8 legs." Arachnophobe, "MONSTERS!! ALL OF EM!!!"

[@PhoenixProdLLC]

🤣

[@Ratciclefan]

I guess science without discourse isn't real science, because there's discourse in every branch of science 😆

[@social3ngin33rin]

Didn't know we've known about tardigrade for that long!!!!

[@axjagfilms]

Crazy how velvet worms and their ancestors could vary in leg amountage

[@dia9491]

I think the reason people think they have six legs is because the rear legs aren’t always engaged when the front 6 are. I’ve seen several species now and the Echiniscus testudo uses all 8 legs more than others I’ve watched. However some of the other tardigrades seem to use the rear legs less and they stick outward at the end as if it were a flipper to help swim. I’m just speculating here of course and looking for research if anyone has any ideas let me know.

[@deerjerkydave]

Amazing technology in these microorganisms.

[@Marscandy1]

“You should’ve counted four pairs of two legs,” *oh no which ones did I miss?!*

[@redmonkey3556]

As a Frenchman, I can say your French prononciation is not bad at all.

[@whizthesugoi]

Omg what is this audio auto translation feature for KZbin? That's so cool

[@st1220music]

0:23

[@zyxzevn]

There could be a computer-game of a tardigrade trying to survive all tortures that is brought upon it.

[@dreamyrhodes]

btw you pronounce the "ä" in "Bär" like the "ea" in "bear". In fact, the double dots above the "a" are a substitution for "e", so you generally can pronounce it "ae" (same for "ö" and "ü").

[@florisklein536]

May I ask, the Ramazzaottius at 2:10 , how was this image/video made? I want to understand how to get such an impressive contrast! Thank you in advance

[@dementiasorrow]

They appear to have six legs and two appendages in his tail. the appendages are also legs...but they are farther behind in some species.

[@snakeegg2102]

Could anhydrobiosis be modelled/described in terms of a computer going through complete shutdown and startup? Where a computer will have designated sequences/programs for shutdown and startup to allow it to resume after periods without power

[@skylahenry8552]

Me looking at my tardigrade squishmallow with 6 legs: 👁️ 👄 👁️

[@hogofwar0]

so you got a link to buy some toy tardigrades merch?

[@rebecculousrk]

Yeah, in some videos, those last two swimmy legs aren't visible. The first tardigrade in this videa, for example, appears to have three pairs, not four. Personally, I think a SciShow plushy tardigrade is a fantastic idea.❤

[@markedis5902]

I saw a picture of a guy taking a tardigrade plushie out for a walk on a lead. It had 8 legs, he had 2. Tardigrade plush slippers seem to have 6 legs but when you consider the wearer….. (brain overload)

[@cantsay]

I wished they had 6 legs so they could evolve the middle set into wings and become the classic dragon someday!!

[@eleazarbarnett8573]

If you don't mind me asking what type of microscope did you start with and what microscopes are you using now?

[@noctusdoesthings]

Dis gon be cool

[@Stierenkloot]

Don’t make a plushie. Make a balloon-ish toy that has correct transparency

[@lightknightgames]

What is that ovular bi-sected thing in the 8:34 video? It's like a brain? And I saw one very similar on a nematode video. I looked it up and the brain is much smaller in tardigrades, so is that the salivary gland? It was much smaller on diagrams.

[@robbierotten2024]

So I understand how microbes move, but how do they get anywhere? For example, it’s rained for the first time in many months around here and the defunct fountain we have, which has been dry for a very long time, filled with water. I found microbes in the water still, but how do they even get there in the first place?

[@helentee9863]

If they can dry out/dessicate,( as stated in this video,)then rehydrate back into life once in contact with water again, it would be easy enough from them to travel in dust. Also they could be dehydrated but alive in the dry fountain without you being aware of them. This is very interesting because l was aware of types of plants that do this(certain types of moss springs to mind when considering dry fountains) but l never considered an adult animal might,no matter how small it is. My first impulse would have been with those in the past who thought it was the descendents of the original tardigrades who rehydrated,as some bacteria form spores that can travel while dry,(on clothing etc)and then rehydrate once ingested. They then become fully functioning bacteria again. Decidedly unpleasant ,as they cause severe digestive symptoms :((

[@bigbrady2244]

Way to go, guys.

[@rickseiden1]

"I! SEE! EIGHT! LEGS!"

[@eddielouisemoran5881]

Yes

[@andressigalat602]

Que tengo que hacer para que KZbin deje de ponerme el audio en español por defecto? I can understand perfectly the English original, and don't want translated and dubbed content, thank you.

[@NewMessage]

_ZZTop have joined the chat_

[@PhoenixProdLLC]

Nah, they left an hour ago. The old folks home locks the doors at 8pm.

[@MicroageHD]

Hello, I'm german.Goeze called them "Kleiner Wasserbär" not "kleinen Wasserbärs" which is just the grammatical flexion of the aforementioned word. Also Bär is pronounced more like the english bear, not bar. :)

[@derek20la]

Great video. But why couldn't you have included a clip of a tardigrade pooping?

[@unvergebeneid]

*kleiner Wasserbär "kleinen Wasserbärs" is the genitive case.

[@MarcusAgrippa390]

To put the question of "how many legs does a tardigrade have" to rest, I put the question to the most advanced supercomputer AI in the world, and the answer was... 42

[@helentee9863]

"hitchhikers through the micro cosmos " Lol 😂❤

[@MarcusAgrippa390]

@@helentee9863 And here I thought I was the only hitchhiker in the microcosmos... Welcome aboard!

[@IamERAMOS]

Where can I buy this microscope?

[@artmakersworlds]

Well Ok, I can SEE why such a missed leg count could happen very easily. Those first six, move like normal legs, pull forward, grab, pull back, move forward. But that last pair? Kinda odd to say the least. They are built backwards. They MOVE opposite of the others and usually just kinda hang there like some odd tail. Until the animal needs to move backwards. Then viola. useful. So sure, one sees the six legs all scurrying around while the last two just dangle there like some useless extra bits and even in this video sometimes that last pair isn't even visible. So six legged. Need to clarify six FORWARD legs and one pair of reverse limbs. Still legs though, even if assembly of parts got mixed up. Perhaps this is in some way a pre development to bats who only use their legs to hang from while they sleep???? Ok, a reach but just a thought.

[@borischan5252]

the 4th pair on some of them looks highly modified, it could be classified as not a leg... I guess it depends on the species

[@dominic.h.3363]

"kleinen Wasserbärs" is the possessive form of "kleiner Wasserbär"

[@dominic.h.3363]

@@f1fan3000 (Des) kleinen Wasserbärs / the little waterbear's ->possessive. The fact that you call this case "genitiv" in German is neither here or there, in English this is possessive.

[@dominic.h.3363]

@@priapulida Okay, in diesem Kontext ist das auch im Englischen genitiv. Ohne Kontext kann das aber immer noch genauso gut possessiv sein. Ändert aber im Endeffekt Null Komma gar nichts daran, dass die richtige form kleiner Wasserbär gewesen wäre.

[@dominic.h.3363]

@@priapulida Eigentlich bin ich nur ein ungarischer Polyglot, also viel schlimmer! ;D

[@sarielle85]

@@dominic.h.3363 "(des) kleinen Wasserbärs" is the genitive case of "(der) kleine Wasserbär". It wouldn't be wrong to call it a possesive form, nor would it be wrong to call "waterbear's" the genitive case of "waterbear", as English used to have cases, too, of which only remnants are left.

[@kellydalstok8900]

Tardigrades look more like hamsters than bears though. Can someone make a tiny wheel to see if they’ll run in it?

[@markc2643]

The Magnification you always have it the upper left corner is misleading unless you are viewing the video in the exact size to make it true. I know it's the objective magnification times ten, but unless you are controlling the size of the output it is false. I calibrate microscope measuring for industries, and that is only used when calibrating a picture that is to be printed out at an exact size on a paper. The scale in the bottom right corner is the proper calibration when the output can be in different sizes.

[@ZuraTheCat]

Spider bear! Spider bear~ dose what ever a spider bear dose. Can they swing, from a web, no they can't, there a bear. LOOOK OUT!! HERE COMES THE SPIDER BEAR!!!

[@bartvlayen4413]

Goeze counted "four" pair of legs armed with "three" crooked very sharp claws. Sorry Goeze, i count at least "four" crooked claws.

[@glennk.7348]

Tardigrades are the cutest micro organisms!! 🐻

[@PaulMcCannWebBuilder]

So now that that's solved - how many toes does it have?

[@chippysteve4524]

Speakingof counting... I'm pretty sure one of those tardigrades had 4 claws on its feet,not 3!

[@brendakrieger7000]

Great video🦠🔬

[@christopherhouse1028]

While they all definitely have 8 feet it doesn't appear that every species have 8 complete and independently moving legs. Of course it seems possible that the structure is internal as well. But does that count as a leg if its internal?

[@melbournewolf]

I thought you did quite well with most of the French names, they're difficult... The French I mean, I should know, I'm half one, the other half is human

[@GoldsmithsStats]

Brilliant

[@renaldocathright3110]

Are tardigrades classified under arachnid since they have eight legs

[@karolwaach6089]

In distant past, they were. Now they make their own phylum Tardigrada

[@stax6092]

Cool.

[@pierrelitas6426]

very good French prononciation