Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A dormant state induced by unfavorable environmental conditions such as high or low temperature, reduced oxygen, or drought, in which an organism's metabolic activity is reduced to an imperceptible level.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biology A state of life, entered by some organisms, in which all metabolic activity is temporarily halted

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a state in which an animal's metabolic activities come to a reversible standstill

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

crypto- + -biosis

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Examples

  • The insects had survived through the millennia thanks a little trick known as cryptobiosis, which is employed by some simple creatures in real life to handle tough times.

    Eureka: Putting the Crypt in Cryptobiosis 2008

  • Go and have a look on wikipedia, type "cryptobiosis".

    Tagruato Website Hacked! Dennis 2007

  • Go and have a look on wikipedia, type "cryptobiosis".

    Tagruato Hacked Again! Dennis 2007

  • Go and have a look on wikipedia, type "cryptobiosis".

    Slusho! Appears On Heroes Again Dennis 2007

  • The main characteristic that allowed un-hatched "Sea-Monkeys" to be cheaply packaged, shipped, and handled is that in easily prepared environments, they enter cryptobiosis, a natural state of suspended animation.

    Archive 2008-03-01 Chuck Wells 2008

  • Sea-Monkeys have a biological life cycle of one year, but thanks to their ability to enter cryptobiosis, a Sea-Monkey colony could sustain itself for two years.

    Archive 2008-03-01 Chuck Wells 2008

  • Hello, go to wikipedia, type cryptobiosis, and you'll find some interesting animal.

    Slusho.jp - More New Happy Talk Dennis 2007

  • But you don’t have to crack open an mummy’s tomb to come face-to-face with cryptobiosis.

    Eureka: Putting the Crypt in Cryptobiosis 2008

  • The roughly millimeter-long worms were able to resist extreme low temperatures by entering a dormant state called cryptobiosis, a process researchers at the institute have been trying to understand.

    Worms Revived After 46,000 Years Frozen in Siberian Permafrost By 2023

Comments

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  • "The researchers, based in Singapore, Denmark and Poland, chose a tardigrade to try to entangle because of its ability to enter long hibernation to withstand things like searing heat, freezing cold, extraordinarily high pressures, and high levels of ionizing radiation. This hibernation is called cryptobiosis; the animal desiccates, shedding the moisture from its body, and only reanimates when conditions become more manageable."

    -- "Scientists Tried to Quantum Entangle a Tardigrade" by Isaac Schultz (https://gizmodo.com/scientists-tried-to-quantum-entangle-a-tardigrade-1848377578)

    January 19, 2022