Researchers Finally Solved the Mystery of How Geckos Can 'Walk' On Water

Jasmine Nirody, a biophysicist at the University of Oxford, was “blown away” when her colleague Adrian Jusufi shared footage of a gecko darting effortlessly between trees in a flooded area in Singapore. Just like a human swimmer bungee jumping in a lagoon, the lizard plunged into the pool of floodwater and galloped through it like a fish, only to reach the other side and climb a tree. Intrigued, Nirody brought some geckos into the laboratory and placed them inside a water tank to observe them repeat this unlikely behavior. Later, the team published a study in the journal Current Biology, elaborating on the mechanisms that allow geckos to “walk on water,” notably faster than human swimmers.

“Anyone who’s seen a gecko will likely know they can climb walls. But these common lizards can also run across water nearly as fast as they can move on solid ground. Yet while we know how geckos scale smooth vertical surfaces using countless tiny hairs on their feet called setae, how they manage to avoid sinking into the water has been something of a mystery – until now,” Nirody wrote in The Conversation. She said that this study provides the answer to this long-standing mystery.

Previously, the ability to walk on water had been observed in animals like grebes, basilisks (Jesus lizards), and water striders. However, this study was the first-ever experiment that delved into the examination of this behavior in geckos. The team carried out a series of experiments on the recruited lizards including their gait analysis in water and soapy water conditions. They placed all these geckos on a plank attached at a height inside the water tank and also varied the surface tension by adding soap. Furthermore, they startled the reptiles by touching their tails which provoked them to jump down into the water.

They found that the lizards employed surface-slapping strategies to accomplish these acrobatic feats. “The study finds that by using a combination of water-walking strategies, such as using its physical makeup to harness the benefits of surface tension and surface slapping, geckos are able to run along the surface of the water,” the team wrote in a University of Oxford press release. “Geckos run along the surface of the water using a combination of water-walking strategies; harnessing surface tension, surface slapping, and body and tail undulation,” Nirody explained in the press release.

“Their genetic makeup is phenomenal and allows them to do so many things,” Nirody added. Indeed, these greenish-brown reptiles are one of nature’s most mysterious masterpieces. Amble through the summertime and you’ll find them there; a lounge of geckos sticking to the walls of a desert resort or hiding at the back of bathroom doors in a college dorm. At first sight, their sneaky, sinister orb-like eyes bulging out of pointy triangular heads are enough to evoke fright even in Spider-Man.

Before one can catch them, they sprint and leap, wiggling their slithery tails, moving in “S shape,” as Nirody described. They crawl on surfaces, latching onto them with their sticky toe pads, and hide among thickets of bushes, shapeshifting colors that would make them invisible. It’s hard to catch them, but if a predator succeeds in grabbing them, these notorious reptiles quickly shed their tails and slip away. But it’s still a win-win situation for them, because they’re well-versed in re-growing their own tails, which is why they’re considered totems of regeneration and rebirth in mysticism. And even though they’re cold-blooded creatures, they thrive in temperatures that are warm and humid.

They poke out their slimy pink tongue and trap particles, flower nectar, and insects, remaining constantly tuned to their sixth sense through their inner ear. Their petrifying eyes are 350 times more sensitive to light than human eyes, which allows them to have sharp vision even in the darker territories. But this is the first-ever study that reveals their very unusual “walking on water” ability. Researchers believe that this head-scratching talent could help them “develop swimming robots for extreme environments, such as flooded areas.”