All eyes are on Paris and the 2024 Olympics, and while most people are talking about the Games at hand, scientists are looking toward future games—where we may see a different kind of sprint emerge.
The Basilisk lizard, also known as the “Jesus lizard,” is impressively able to run across the water. It can begin running on land and transition to water to avoid predators, which is amazing given that it weighs around four ounces and is too heavy to be supported by water’s surface tension.
Two Harvard researchers, Tom McMahon and Jim Glasheen, began studying the phenomenon in the 1990s. They developed a mathematical model by analyzing videos of lizards walking on water and found that each step can be broken down into three stages: slap, stroke, and recovery.
