On planet Earth there are truly extraordinary beings, capable of surviving extreme conditions where most animals would die. This is the case of the extremophilous animals Therefore, in this article on our site we talk about these spectacular animals, without forgetting that they were unicellular organisms, such as bacteria, the first to survive the extreme conditions of the birth of the planet.
Discover below on our site which are the animals that survive in extreme conditions, their names, characteristics or some curious details that will surely they will surprise you Keep reading!
Bacteria that live in extreme conditions
Bacteria are the first organisms that populated planet Earth, when, for example, there was no atmosphere to protect them from UV rays or there was no regulation of the earth's temperature and it was extremely high. For this reason, many species are adapted to live in extreme conditions.
In the classification of living beings into 5 kingdoms, we observe that bacteria are unicellular prokaryotic organisms that belong to the Monera kingdom.
A good example of this are the bacteria that survive high temperatures These bacteria usually grow optimally above 45 ºC, but can survive temperatures greater than 100 ºCThese bacteria live in geysers or hydrothermal columns on the ocean floor. On the other hand, there are also psychrophilic bacteria, which prefer below zero temperatures, like the bacteria that live in the Arctic.
On the other hand, there are also acidophilic bacteria, that is, bacteria that live in conditions of very acidic pH, close to zero, such as the bacteria that inhabit the soils and volcanic waters or those that live in the gastric fluids of animals. Of course, there are also those that live in very basic pH, the alkaliphilic bacteria, which inhabit extremely saline soils and waters.
Animals that can survive extreme temperatures
In many places on the planet, the ambient temperature is extremely high, but some animals have managed to live without being negatively affected by this. This is the case of the Pompeii worm (Alvinella pompejana), an inhabitant of hydrothermal vents in the oceans. This animal is able to survive temperatures above 80 ºC thanks to the symbiosis with bacteria that inhabit its skin and protect it.
Another surprising animal is the Saharan desert ant (Cataglyphis bicolor). This is the only one of all the ant species that continues to leave the protection of its ant to search for food even when outside temperatures exceed 45 ºC It is the only species of ant that has this behavior.
It is as hard to survive high temperatures as it is to survive low temperatures, where almost all animals would freeze to death. This is not the case of the wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus). When the cold Alaskan winter arrives, these frogs are able to stay frozen at temperatures below -18 ºC, coming back to life months later. They achieve this thanks to the accumulation of glucose in their tissues. This glucose serves as a cryoprotectant, preventing tissues from suffering damage due to freezing.
Another cold Alaskan that can withstand even lower temperatures than the wood frog is the red bark beetle (Cucujus clavipes puniceu). This animal can withstand freezing temperatures for below -58 ºC They achieve this by accumulating proteins and an alcohol that acts as antifreeze, also reducing the amount of water inside from your body making these proteins even more concentrated. The most surprising thing about this animal is that its larvae can survive temperatures below - 150 ºC without freezing, going through a vitrification process when temperatures drop below -50 ºC. This makes it the animal that can withstand the cold the longest.
Animals adapted to humidity
Although we always focus on temperatures to look for extraordinary animals, the extreme environmental humidity is also a problem for the development of life. Animals that withstand sudden changes in humidity are called euryhygricos
Cockroaches are animals that love moisture as well as warm temperatures. But, if the relative humidity drops below 20%, these animals can survive, since they are capable of reducing their respiratory rate to avoid drying out their bodies and, as a consequence, becoming dehydrated.
Animals that live in tropical forests are adapted to environments where the relative humidity easily exceeds 90%. Other animals, under these conditions, would die, in many cases, due to the proliferation of fungi.
Vertebrates adapted to extreme droughts
Water is essential for life, but not all animals need to ingest it directly to stay hydrated. The kangaroo rats (Dipodomys sp.) don't drink in their entire lives This is achieved thanks two mechanisms, firstly they take water from the food they eat and, on the other hand, reactions take place inside their body that release metabolic water.
A similar case is that of the camels (Camelus sp.), also inhabitants that survive in deserts. Camels get water from the vegetation they eat, but this is not enough. When a camel gets water in the oases, they are able to accumulate it in their hump in the form of fat. This allows them to endure more than a month without ingesting liquids.
In general, desert dwellers are highly adapted to water scarcity, each having sophisticated mechanisms to survive without this essential element.
