IELTS Listening: Tardigrades

This IELTS Listening Part 4 is about research into microscopic animals called tardigrades or ‘water bears’. The speaker explains their extreme survival abilities - a topic that we covered in the previous Reading Podcast ('The secret of staying young'). This is an essential topic in IELTS, so don't miss this chance to review the vocabulary related to ageing and longevity. You'll also pick up lots of tips related to gapfill questions. Get the full lesson on my website: Useful Vocabulary conservation status 🌍 - the level of protection or risk faced by a species decade 🗓️ - a period of ten years endangered ⚠️ - at risk of disappearing completely extinction ☄️ - the total disappearance of a species habitat 🌿 - the natural place where an animal or plant lives invertebrate 🦐 - an animal without a backbone metabolism ⚙️ - the chemical processes that keep an organism alive microscopic 🔬 - so small it can only be seen with a microscope species 🧬 - a group of similar organisms that can reproduce thriving 🌟 - growing well and surviving successfully

You can listen to IELTS Listening: Tardigrades online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

IELTS Listening: Tardigrades is an episode from IELTS Made Easier by IELTS with Fiona.

This episode is 00:18:50 long.

This episode was published on Jan 20, 2026.

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