English: Anhydrobiotic tun formation in Richtersius coronifer

The most obvious morphological changes associated with tun formation are the anterior-posterior contraction of the trunk and retraction of legs. According to our observations of the behavior of animals during entrance into anhydrobiosis, this process is initiated when the animals sense a decrease in external water potential. Entrance into and exit out of anhydrobiosis can be divided into four separate stages (I, active hydrated; II, dehydrating, ‘tucking in’; III, anhydrobiotic tun state; IV, rehydration) the completion of which is an active process orchestrated by the muscle system. The movie was made using an Infinity X Digital Camera (DeltaPix, Denmark) mounted on a Leica MZ 16 microscope (x80 magnification).

(high resolution AVI files recorded with the camera software were imported into Windows Movie Maker for the creation of the final video sequence)