Cryptobiose et reviviscence chez les animaux, le vivant et la structure

Abstract

Cryptobiosis is a slow paced state of life in which certain species that belong to various groups have proved to be able to live in inhabitual life conditions, often for very long periods of time. An organism in crypto-biosis shows structural modifications often remarkable, as well as a reduction of metabolic activity to the point at which certain cases are undetectable. The examples of tardigrades facilitate the understanding of the forms of this biological state as well as the return to an active life. Other than these aspects, the study of cryptobiosis generates questions about the evolutional significanceof this state and also, on a more fundamental level, questions about the limits of the notion of living. © L'Esprit du Temps.