Nature

This lizard runs across the surface of water to escape predators

The basilisk lizard slaps its splayed hind feet against the water fast enough to trap a pocket of air beneath each foot, generating enough force to support its weight before the foot sinks. By pulling its foot out before the air pocket collapses, it can sprint several body lengths across open water. Slow down the sprint and the trick fails — below a critical speed, the lizard just sinks and has to swim instead.

John W. Glasheen and Thomas A. McMahon, A Hydrodynamic Model of Locomotion in the Basilisk Lizard — Nature, vol. 380, 1996

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