Overview

• At a presentation in the Nationalpark Schwarzwald on Thursday, officials handed the Baden-Württemberg leader a model of the species Ramazzottius kretschmanni.
• The tardigrade was first discovered in the park and formally described in 2022, with the name chosen to honor Kretschmann’s engagement for biodiversity.
• Kretschmann called the naming a great honor and emphasized preserving biodiversity as a fundamental human responsibility.
• The species measures about 400 micrometers, shows an unusual reddish-beige coloration, lives mainly in mosses, and can reach tree crowns when dried individuals are carried by wind or birds.
• A survey led by zoologist Ralph Schill documented 28 tardigrade species in the park, including four previously unknown, underscoring the group’s resilience to extreme heat, cold, and desiccation and their documented survival of unprotected spaceflight.