It’s heroic, hardy and less than a millimetre long: meet the 2025 invertebrate of the year | Patrick Barkham

Guardian readers around the world voted in the this year’s contest, celebrating our spineless, friendly neighbours. But which creature won?If you didn’t vote in the recent ballot, you missed out. Here was a vote where all 10 candidates were creative and morally upstanding, a vote unsullied by dubious lobbies, dodgy polls or demagogues. And if you’re seeking inspiration from a figure of strength who is also strangely cute then look no further than the winner of 2025: Milnesium tardigradum, a microscopic multisegmented animal that resembles a piglet wrapped in an enormous duvet.Thousands of Guardian readers around the world voted in the contest, which we invented to celebrate the overlooked, unsung heroes of our planet. Continue reading...