While they can survive some of the most extreme conditions (including space for a limited time), they evolved on Earth. The reason they look so alien is because they're extremely old. The oldest fossil we have is from 530 million years ago. That is just after the first appearance of multicellular life and they haven't changed a hell of a lot since then.
Yes, they evolved on Earth, but I believe some have been found in meteroites. Whether or not that means those particular ones were from space is anyone’s guess.
So I was only able to find a single article claiming to have found a tardigrade (egg) in a meteorite and said article seems a bit sketchy. The egg was claimed to have been found in the meteorite MIL 03346. This meteorite was found in December 2003, not 2014 as the article claims. And the entry for that meteorite on NASA's website makes no metion of anything found inside it. Granted, It is theoretically possible for certain species of tardigrade to survive the trip, just highly unlikely.
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· 5 years ago
Thank you, I must have read a spread of misinformation at some point. Even cross-referencing can yield inaccurate info.
It's hugely underrated