If we get cold, we put on another layer, a scarf, maybe a hat. If the Patagonian ice dragon gets cold, it—well, apparently it doesn't get cold, because antifreeze literally runs in its veins:
The Patagonian ice dragon is an insect just over half an inch (1.3 centimeters) long and it lives on glaciers.
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field may serve as an impressive reserve of fresh water, but the rivers of ice are a difficult place to live. The dragón de la Patagonia, a type of stonefly, has adapted to survive in this frozen land.
The dragon is what scientists call an extremophile, or an organism that can live in extreme environments.
Live look at the ice dragon just living his best life in the ice:
Okay okay not really. It kinda looks like a black praying mantis or something:
And these beasts really are suited to live in the coldest places on Earth:
"[T]his is a creature known as the Patagonian dragon, a very primitive insect which spends its entire life within the glaciers of the Andean Southern Icefield: the only wingless member of the stonefly family, it has high concentrations of glycerol (antifreeze) in its blood, and feeds entirely on the particles of algae growing in minute crevices in the ice."
How rare are these bugs? Well, the only video I could easily find of one was posted to YouTube literally 15 years ago:
If you're ever in Patagonia and you see one of these things, take a video of it and throw it onto YouTube so we can at least get some more footage circulating!
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