Milnesium

Milnesium
Temporal range: Turonian–Recent
SEM image of Milnesium tardigradum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Tardigrada
Class: Eutardigrada
Order: Apochela
Family: Milnesiidae
Genus: Milnesium
Doyère, 1840 [1]

Milnesium is a genus of tardigrades.[1] It is rather common, being found in a wide variety of habitats across the world.[2] It has a fossil record extending back to the Cretaceous, the oldest species found so far (M. swolenskyi) is known from Turonian stage deposits on the east coast of the United States.[3] Milnesiums are one of the most desiccation and radiation-resistant invertebrates on Earth because of their unique ability to transform into a "tun" state and utilize intrinsically disordered proteins when experiencing extreme environments.[4]

  1. ^ a b "ITIS standard report: Milnesium (Doyère, 1840)". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  2. ^ "Nelson, Diane (2002). "Current Status of the Tardigrada: Evolution and Ecology". Integr. Comp. Biol. (42): 652–659". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. ^ "Milnesium Doyere 1840 (water bear)". PBDB.
  4. ^ Boothby, Thomas C.; Tapia, Hugo; Brozena, Alexandra H.; Piszkiewicz, Samantha; Smith, Austin E.; Giovannini, Ilaria; Rebecchi, Lorena; Pielak, Gary J.; Koshland, Doug; Goldstein, Bob (2017-03-16). "Tardigrades Use Intrinsically Disordered Proteins to Survive Desiccation". Molecular Cell. 65 (6): 975–984.e5. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2017.02.018. ISSN 1097-2765. PMC 5987194. PMID 28306513.