Have you ever seen people walking on water? Well, if you haven’t, you would gasp in surprise when you see a magician working their magic, somehow walking on water. Of course, magicians never reveal their secrets, but through science, we can reveal how those magic tricks are actually quite mundane in the eyes of many other multicellular organisms.
While there are a variety of animals that are able to “walk on water,” most animals belong to the Insecta subgroup. More specifically, water-dwelling beetles have the ability to walk on the underside of the water using their special hair-like structures that gathers and releases air. Another common method used by water-dwelling beetles is by trapping air in their wings which allows them to use the trapped air to help them walk upside down (Greenwood).
Another large subgroup would be reptiles, specifically Basilisks. These creatures aren’t the same one that shows up in Harry Potter, but it’s just as peculiar. Basilisk live close to the teams in “ tropical North and South America” (Britannica). Often nicknamed as “Jesus Christ lizards, they will quickly run across the water at moments of danger. But how? Basilisk's foot has special fridges that allow it to clump together air bubbles in water, acting almost like a “floatie” for the basilisk's feet (Kratt). Thanks to the basilisks' quick bicycling legs, they are able to utilize the fringes; if it weren’t for their speed, the basilisks would sink in seconds.
While both water-dwelling beetles and Basilisks walk on water, the mechanisms underlying the function differ. As previously explained, water-dwelling beetles either use hair-like structures such as air tanks or wings to trap air, but basilisks utilize surface tension.
From Basilisks to beetles, the intriguing mechanism of water-walking helps us discover new ways in which abilities that are foreign to us humans come so naturally to other organisms. Like planes inspired by bird flights, through these intricate animal functions, perhaps new technology that helps all of us to walk on water may be near.
* To learn more about water-walking animals, please refer to the sources below!
Greenwood, Veronique. "No Scuba Gear Needed: Underwater Beetles Are Breathing Easy." New York Times, 23 Apr. 2019, p. D2(L). Gale In Context: Environmental Studies, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A583223419/GRNR?u=j043905006&sid=sru&xid=ba9d0d9b. Accessed 9 Aug. 2021.
"Basilisk." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 20 Mar. 2008. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/basilisk/13628?opensearch=Basilisk. Accessed 10 Aug. 2021.
"Surface tension." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 1 Jun. 2020. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/surface-tension/70440?opensearch=surface%20tension. Accessed 10 Aug. 2021.
Kratt, Chris, and Martin Kratt. “Wild Kratts.” Youtube, Media Lab Publishing, 17 June 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzPUpmZsWdg.