A minute animal with a short plump body and four pairs of stubby legs, living in water or in the film of water on plants such as mosses.
熊虫
Phylum Tardigrada
Example sentencesExamples
Hiking under the massive Sitka spruce, hemlocks, and Douglas firs on the Quinault Loop Trail, eight of us learned about water bears - microscopic moss-eating creatures that can hibernate as desiccated flakes for decades.
Some of these we're quite familiar with, like squid, lobsters, corals, and jellyfish, but there's a whole universe of lesser-known invertebrates out there, like tardigrades or ‘water bears,’ chitons, and flatworms.
Strangely enough, water bears are at the same time among the most unknown and the most fascinating creatures on earth.
Definition of water bear in US English:
water bear
noun
A minute invertebrate with a short plump body and four pairs of stubby legs, living in water or in the film of water on plants such as mosses.
熊虫
Phylum Tardigrada
Example sentencesExamples
Strangely enough, water bears are at the same time among the most unknown and the most fascinating creatures on earth.
Hiking under the massive Sitka spruce, hemlocks, and Douglas firs on the Quinault Loop Trail, eight of us learned about water bears - microscopic moss-eating creatures that can hibernate as desiccated flakes for decades.
Some of these we're quite familiar with, like squid, lobsters, corals, and jellyfish, but there's a whole universe of lesser-known invertebrates out there, like tardigrades or ‘water bears,’ chitons, and flatworms.