Creatures Most At Home In Extreme Habitats

[IbisNibs]

Here's another creature that leaves scientists scratching their heads, at least for now: Lava Crickets.
(Hats off to James Allen, the cartoonist who writes the American nature themed daily comic strip, Mark Trail, for featuring this amazing bug.)
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/extreme-life-lava-cricket

Lava Crickets live on lava flows, and no one knows where they spend their time when the lava's not flowing. Entomologists have learned enough about their mating habits to know that females suck the the fluid out of her mate's leg, but have no idea how the happy couple meet each other in the first place. And WTF happens to the eggs? Are the larvae born hard boiled, like Sam Spade? No human can say for sure . . .

The article is a year old, but there was nothing newer I could find. Scientists are still investigating.

 

[Swifty]

Here's another creature that leaves scientists scratching their heads, at least for now: Lava Crickets.
(Hats off to James Allen, the cartoonist who writes the American nature themed daily comic strip, Mark Trail, for featuring this amazing bug.)
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/extreme-life-lava-cricket

Lava Crickets live on lava flows, and no one knows where they spend their time when the lava's not flowing. Entomologists have learned enough about their mating habits to know that females suck the the fluid out of her mate's leg, but have no idea how the happy couple meet each other in the first place. And WTF happens to the eggs? Are the larvae born hard boiled, like Sam Spade? No human can say for sure . . .

The article is a year old, but there was nothing newer I could find. Scientists are still investigating.

Interesting stuff, thanks ... although they're no were as hardcore as Tardigrades ..

https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/tardigrades.60601/

 

[Min Bannister]

While having fluids in one’s body is generally important for living things, it’s especially vital in the severe heat of a lava field. So either lava crickets have some secret and surprising adaptations, or scientists will need to rework their definition of what a pioneer species can be, Zuk told Science.

Well it's probably even more vital if you are needing to produce eggs and the males job is done at this point so he may a well give up some of his leg-fluid to help the eggs along.

 

[GNC]

Anyone reminded of that 1970s movie Bug? With the fire cockroaches?

 

[Swifty]

Well it's probably even more vital if you are needing to produce eggs and the males job is done at this point so he may a well give up some of his leg-fluid to help the eggs along.

Like the Child Support Agency except with crickets.

 

[Bigphoot2]

When it comes to extreme cold only two creatures can cope

 

[hunck]

A rival for Tardigrades as most indestructible organism​

Bdelloid rotifer survives 24,000 years frozen in Siberia​

A microscopic multi-celled organism has returned to life after being frozen for 24,000 years in Siberia, according to new research.

Scientists dug up the animal known as a bdelloid rotifer from the Alayeza River in the Russian Arctic.

Once thawed, it was able to reproduce asexually, after spending millennia in a state of frozen animation known as crytobiosis.

Previous research said they could survive frozen for up to 10 years.

But the new study, published in Current Biology on Monday, suggested they could last for thousands of years, if not indefinitely.

Bdelloid rotifers are a class of rotifer found in freshwater environments around the world. The name rotifer comes from the Latin meaning "wheel bearer".

The creatures are known for their ability to withstand extremes. They are one of the Earth's most radioactive-resistant animals, according to the New York Times, which reports they can also withstand low oxygen, starvation, high acidity and years of dehydration.

 

[Coastaljames]

When it comes to extreme cold only two creatures can cope
View attachment 27815

The penguins like, "Bloody tourists..."

 

[Ogdred Weary]

When it comes to extreme cold only two creatures can cope
View attachment 27815

Penguins and bagpipes?

 

[Coastaljames]

"Lava crickets survive by eating decaying plants swept in by the wind and by drinking sea foam..."


I'm a fan of the ascetic lifestyle...but that's pretty gnarly. Sea foam...

 

[IbisNibs]

Hey, here's another one:

You've heard of bacteria that live off of sulfur from deep ocean vents, well, there are some that live in subways!
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/science/microbes-subway-metasub-mason.html

“We have taken a deep dive into the urban centers to find a breadth and treasure trove of new life-forms,” Dr. Mason said. “The railings and the benches of our cities have sometimes just as much or more diversity than what you find in a rain forest.”
“We don’t see anything that we are worried about,” said David Danko, one of the paper’s authors and the director of bioinformatics for MetaSUB. [ . . . ] “We don’t want people to be scared of these microbes, because these are just part of the ecosystem that we as humans live in.”

(If that's not an extreme enough environment for you these days, well, you're just not paying attention!)

 

[ramonmercado]

Hey, here's another one:

You've heard of bacteria that live off of sulfur from deep ocean vents, well, there are some that live in subways!
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/science/microbes-subway-metasub-mason.html

“We have taken a deep dive into the urban centers to find a breadth and treasure trove of new life-forms,” Dr. Mason said. “The railings and the benches of our cities have sometimes just as much or more diversity than what you find in a rain forest.”
“We don’t see anything that we are worried about,” said David Danko, one of the paper’s authors and the director of bioinformatics for MetaSUB. [ . . . ] “We don’t want people to be scared of these microbes, because these are just part of the ecosystem that we as humans live in.”

(If that's not an extreme enough environment for you these days, well, you're just not paying attention!)

Potential horror film here with some of those critters mutating due to radiation etc. Then attacking people.