This water bear can survive even in space

Melbourne: A tiny new species dubbed ‘water bear' has been discovered in Antarctica and members of this species can survive in space, researchers said.

The animals are indestructible. They will not die even if they are boiled, frozen or squeezed under pressure. REPRESENTATIONAL picture

Researchers found the new creature while on a trip to Victoria Land, some 5,600 km south of Australia. The creature is a member of the tardigrade family.

"Under the microscope, they are slow walkers but they look like bears walking. They have four pairs of legs and can hold their back legs down and arch themselves up to reach things," Sandra McInnes of British Antarctic Survey was quoted as saying.

"They have been tested in space, under liquid nitrogen, put under pressure and had chemicals thrown over them but they are fine after being washed in water," McInnes added.

Tardigrades, or water bears, are water-dwelling micro-animals with eight legs. The tiny creatures are certainly strange-looking with their eight chubby legs, little claws and probing heads.

They are indestructible - they will not die even if they are boiled, frozen, squeezed under pressure or desiccated. The discovery was published in the journal Polar Biology.