WELCOME

The team, which was led by Harvard paleontologist John Heffernan,

March 31, 2019 by Lena Webb

The team, which was led by Harvard paleontologist John Heffernan, first measured the strength of the lizard's muscles after the researchers saw the skin of a tree. They then examined a number of muscles and found that the muscle strength was at least four times greater for the larger lizard, which is less agile than the basilisk lizards. "We knew we could test that it could do this thing," says Full. "But we weren't sure if it could. It seemed like the most unlikely scenario."

The team's idea is to understand the mechanisms involved in the use of surface tension. "We think the body is always trying to stay afloat, but we also think it's not always there," says Full. "It's a really hard question. And this is what the team does, and we know that we can solve it with a few tricks. If you're going to study something, you're going to need to understand it a lot more. So if you're going to be in the lab, you'll need to be able to see this stuff. If it's going to be a challenge, then it's going to be harder to get out and do it."

In the meantime, the team is working to find other ways to replicate the feat. Scientists are looking into using small creatures like basilisks or lizards to teach and learn how to navigate rivers, or to climb mountains, or to walk on ice. More research is needed to understand how such creatures can benefit from the ability to fly, and how they can also move around on the surface. More than 100 other scientists have studied this kind of thing, but the most recent study to look at the biology of amphibian lizards that has yet to be published is done by Nirody and Full's team at the University of British Columbia.

The researchers plan on seeing whether the ability to fly can be used as a tool for developing new tools for studying the biology of amphibians, and for other animals. In the meantime, they're hoping to find more ways to use water as a tool for studying biology in the future. In the meantime, a lot of time is being spent on other things, like learning about the biology of these things, and about finding ways to be more like them. "We don't really have time to think about anything," Full says. "But if we could just take the time to study the biology of these things, we might really start thinking about how to put people in charge."The last two