Water Bears and Hox Genes

Tardigrades, more commonly known as water bears, are capable of occupying many ecological niches--including arctic glaciers, Lake Michigan, and a Japanese parking lot, where a new species was recently discovered. This is in part due to the diverse morphology of tardigrades' body segments. In early development, Hox genes play a significant role in segmentation development. Researchers have recently discovered that several Hox genes were lost early in the tardigrade lineage resulting in the loss of the intermediate region of the body plan--corresponding to the thorax region in insects. The researchers note that this loss demonstrates that a body plan of an animal may be the result of a large loss of body.

Find the original article here
Read about the newly discovered tardigrade species  here

-Leanne Chambers