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Unbelievable Things Animals Are Able To Do · Be Amazed

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Animals are pretty incredible.
• 0:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, humans may be smart, but we're not naturally able to do things like fly, breathe underwater, or lay an egg.
• 0:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: And while we think we know almost everything about the animals in our world, there are some that seem to define mother nature herself with the things they can do.
• 0:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: From ravens that can talk like humans to lizards that can walk on water like Jesus, it's time to take an examination of some of the most unbelievable things animals are able to do.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are three certainties in this world, life, death, and taxes.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Although there's a small exception to that second rule and its name is Turretopsis Dornai, a tiny species of jellyfish with a very special talent.
• 0:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: They can't die.
• 1:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm being serious.
• 1:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: These jellyfish are one of the only species on Earth considered biologically immortal.
• 1:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Unless they get gobbled up by a predator, these aptly nicknamed immortal jellyfish will be swimming around till the end of time.
• 1:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Fully grown, they measure in it less than zero point two inches across, smaller than a standard pinky nail.
• 1:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: But their size doesn't stop them from replenishing any damage cells through a process called trans differentiation.
• 1:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: When they get injured or hungry, they take a leap back in their development process and amazingly regress to their juvenile polyp state.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: The adult cells effectively turn back time to a younger form before budding and releasing baby jellyfish that are genetically identical to the injured adult.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Providing they can hang on to an essential part of their anatomy called the nerve center, which triggers the trans differentiation process.
• 1:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: These jellyfish can keep on swimming forever and ever.
• 2:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: You've heard of a copycat, but have you heard of a copy octopus?
• 2:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, that's not its real name.
• 2:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Scientists call it the Indonesian mimic octopus, an intelligent ocean dweller that has the amazing ability to expertly impersonate other sea creatures, and not just one or two.
• 2:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: This amazing cephalopod can mimic up to fifteen other marine animals, including lionfish, sea snakes, and soulfish.
• 2:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now most octopi hide by blending into their surroundings when they see danger coming, which scientists call Cripsis.
• 2:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the mimic octopus changes its shape boldly pretending to be the predator of its predators so that they leave it well alone.
• 2:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not only that, but when the octopus gets hungry itself, it can use its talents to sneak up on prey unnoticed.
• 2:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: After all, if you saw a single slithering sea snake, the last thing you'd expect it to be is a hyper-intelligent, eight-legged octopus, wouldn't you?
• 3:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's like the octopus version of Robin Williams.
• 3:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the mimic octopus isn't the only sea creature out there that gets creative with its camouflage.
• 3:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: nicknamed the chameleons of the sea, cuddlefish can rapidly change the color of their skin in order to blend into any background they encounter, but they don't just change their color.
• 3:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: These swimming marine mollusks have the ability to mimic the shape and even the texture of what they're copying.
• 3:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Cuttlefish skin contains millions of specialized pigmented cells called chromatophores.
• 3:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: The cuttlefish can alter them at will, expanding and contracting to change its color in the fraction of a second.
• 3:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: With this flashy skill up their sleeves, cuttlefish can use their quick color changes to avoid predators, hunt, and even communicate with other cuttlefish.
• 3:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Man, the only way I can communicate with my skin is going bright red whenever I get embarrassed.
• 4:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: While I recover from that embarrassing blushing episode, why don't you help build my confidence back up by following my podcast and leaving a five-star rating?
• 4:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right, I think I'm back to a normal color now.
• 4:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Where were we?
• 4:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Look up in the sky.
• 4:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a bird?
• 4:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a plane?
• 4:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: No, it's a snake.
• 4:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Wait, snakes can fly?
• 4:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, not all snakes, but
• 4:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: The paradise tree snake found around western India and Indonesia certainly tries to.
• 4:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: At just three feet in length, this species of tree snake prefers living up high in tree canopies rather than crawling around on the rainforest floor.
• 4:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Up here, it's easy to hunt tree dwelling prey and blend into the branches, but getting from one tree to another is no easy feat.
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So instead of slithering all the way down one tree and up another, paradise snakes drop their scales and spread out their ribs to make their undersides concave, then they coiled themselves into a Jay-shaped bend and launch into the air, gliding into the next tree, or wherever else they want to go.
• 5:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: On a good gliding day, they can travel more than three hundred feet in a single leaf.
• 5:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some scientists believe this is help by that signature snake-like movement they do in the air.
• 5:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: If they just launched from the tree and stayed still as a log, they'd likely crash into the ground.
• 5:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the strange ribbon-like movement they do is believe to help stabilize them in the air and keep them on target.
• 5:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, it's such a unique trait that scientists aren't sure why these snakes have taken to flying so much.
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some even speculate that they might do it just because they enjoy it.
• 5:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Who knew snakes could be such adrenaline junkies?
• 5:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now have you ever heard of the Dung Beetle?
• 5:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: With a name like that, it's pretty clear this insect species loves feces.
• 6:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Found all over the world with the exception of Antarctica, these interesting insects fly around in search of manure deposits from herbivores.
• 6:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: These contain half-digested grass and some super smelly liquids that most dung beetles feed on.
• 6:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: To preserve the precious poop soup, many will roll balls of the dung away and bury them.
• 6:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: But to save them from making multiple trips, the beetles roll up huge balls and push them around with their strong back legs.
• 6:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: At less than half an inch long, these guys aren't exactly the biggest beetles on the block, but despite their small size, they're, surprisingly, the strongest animals on the planet.
• 6:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even though they look like they're struggling with that big ball of poop, Dung beetles have the greatest body weight to lift ratio of any animal on Earth, meaning they can happily push more than eleven hundred times their own body weight.
• 6:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: That would be like an average human lifting six double-decker buses.
• 7:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Anyone else's arms hurting just thinking about that?
• 7:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Sam and have to be one of the tastiest animals on the planet, but weirdly, they're also one of the creepiest.
• 7:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: These fish are born in freshwater rivers or lakes, and once they've developed into adults, they move to the salty ocean where they can better feed and grow.
• 7:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: When it's time for them to spawn all spring of their own, they migrate back to the exact same rivers and lakes they grew up in because they know that they're safe.
• 7:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be able to find the exact spot I was born without a map.
• 7:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: But Sam and have tiny iron particles in their heads that act like compass needles, directing them back to their birthplace via the Earth's magnetic field.
• 7:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it's a long and difficult journey.
• 7:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: The salmon travel hundreds of miles upstream, crossing waterfalls, braving currents and dodging predators, some even swim across flooded roads to get back to their precious breeding waters.
• 8:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Once the salmon finally make it back in spawn, they're so exhausted that they're ready to leave this earth for good.
• 8:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: But life doesn't always let you out that easily.
• 8:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: The fish begin a process called deterioration, where they're dying, but not yet dead.
• 8:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: What's that word for when you're dead, but somehow still alive?
• 8:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's right, zombie.
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yikes, this is the creek of the living dead.
• 8:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: But thankfully, they aren't hungry for your brains.
• 8:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: When summer starts to fade, and the bitter winter begins to sink in, life gets hard for many animals.
• 8:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Food suddenly becomes scarce and it's harder to stay warm so some animals have evolved to conserve their precious energy by hibernating.
• 8:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: After fattening up in summer, they'll instinctively drop into a torpor state where their metabolism and heart rate slow allowing them to stay inactive and asleep for most of the winter.
• 8:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the wood frog of Alaska takes hibernation to a god to your level.
• 9:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Temperatures in Alaska can drop to a frosty minus seventy nine point eight degrees Fahrenheit.
• 9:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the body of this tiny amphibious frog doesn't just slow down, it freezes solid.
• 9:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: But when the ice melts, sometimes up to seven months later, the frog thaws out and amazingly just hops away.
• 9:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: The process is so unbelievable that people have mistaken garden ornaments like this for fully frozen frogs.
• 9:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: As the temperature drops, the wood frogs heart and lungs gradually stop working, meaning the frog can be classified as biologically dead.
• 9:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: But while this would kill almost any other creature, the Wood Frog survives thanks to its blood glucose levels.
• 9:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're up to ten times higher than that of your average frog, which helps keep water locked inside the cells.
• 9:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Frostbite in humans is caused when the water in our blood turns to ice, and our cells get so dehydrated they die.
• 10:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: So by keeping itself super sweet, wood frogs can retain the right amount of water even when up to sixty-five percent of their bodies are frozen from the inside out.
• 10:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about you, but I find this entire death-defying process a little riveting.
• 10:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now let's talk about the Australian Liarbird, a creature with the most incredible ability to perfectly mimic almost any sounded hears.
• 10:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: from the calls of an entire flock of kuka buras to the noises from a toy gun.
• 10:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Lairbirds use their searings, which is a bird's vocal organ to produce these incredibly complex sounds.
• 10:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: They have three pairs of muscles in their searings while most birds have four pairs, resulting in an extraordinary flexibility of sounds they can create.
• 10:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Unlike other birds that can mimic noises, liar birds tend to learn their sounds from older males of the species.
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: So these sounds are passed down through the generations.
• 11:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: In captivity, this ability extends even further with Liar Birds able to mimic everything from car alarms to flutes, camera shutters, even R to D to from Star Wars.
• 11:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: As a huge nerd, I find this incredibly cool, and so do other Liar Birds.
• 11:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: While they sing all year round, Liar Birds sing with particular gusto between June and August, which is their mating season.
• 11:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: So scientists believe that female lier birds are just as impressed by this mimic ability as we are.
• 11:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: And yet, when I try to woo a lady with nothing but R-II-D-II noises, I end up single.
• 11:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not fair!
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Did you know that some ravens can mimic human speech?
• 11:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: It turns out ravens can be trained to mimic speech because of their sophisticated brain structure, which connects the area responsible for communication to the section responsible for memory and language.
• 12:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you've heard parents talking before too?
• 12:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, parents have the same marginally stronger connection in their brains enabling them to mimic up to one thousand words.
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: But Ravens can only really mimic up to one hundred words on average.
• 12:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: The scientific name for this kind of speaking is lingual articulation.
• 12:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the ravens are able to repeat the sounds they hear, but have no idea what the noises they're making actually mean.
• 12:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps one day ravens could return the favor.
• 12:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: The horribly named naked mole rat is a creature that's just as disturbing as it sounds.
• 12:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: It looks like my unmentionables but... with teeth.
• 12:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Native to East Africa, it's blind at birth completely hairless and thrives in dark harsh underground habitats.
• 12:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not a life I'd choose for myself, I'll be honest, but the naked mole rat doesn't seem to mind at all.
• 13:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not only are naked mole rats the only mammalian thermoconformer, which means they can self-regulate their body temperature,
• 13:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: These creepy little creatures also lack the neurotransmitters responsible for pain sensitivity.
• 13:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: In other words, they're wired to feel no pain.
• 13:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: The wrinkled rodents have evolved to survive an area's deep underground that contains so much carbon dioxide.
• 13:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: They have seizures if they don't get enough of it.
• 13:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: But living with so little oxygen means that lactic acid, which is produced by muscles when they're used, pools dangerously in their body.
• 13:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's this same acid that makes your muscles feel sore after a hard workout, so these small rats have evolved not to feel the pain in their own bodies just to be able to move.
• 13:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not only that, but the large quantity of acid in the mole rat's body tissue makes them one of the few species resistant to cancer's tumors.
• 13:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's right, the naked mole rat cannot get cancer.
• 14:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I guess it can smoke all the cigarettes at once, chameleons are incredibly cool, or hot depending on what color they're currently sporting.
• 14:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: These incredible reptiles are famous for being able to change color and blend into their surroundings or grab the attention of a mate.
• 14:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because they're entirely defenseless, they rely heavily on their ability to blend seamlessly into the background to avoid predators.
• 14:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: But while you may not be able to see it, it will be able to see you no matter where you are.
• 14:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: The chameleons have a unique eye anatomy that enables them to rotate each of their eyes, one hundred eighty degrees horizontally, and ninety degrees vertically, entirely independent of each other.
• 14:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: That means chameleons can move whichever eye they want and whatever direction they want, whenever they want.
• 14:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: When chameleons look out both eyes simultaneously, just like we humans do, it's called binocular vision.
• 14:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: But sometimes they can choose to look out of just one, like we humans don't, and that's called binocular vision.
• 15:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: binocular vision comes in handy when the chameleon is searching for prey and can point each eye in a different direction.
• 15:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: When the chameleon finds its prey, it switches to binocular vision and locks both eyes in on its target.
• 15:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: All these capabilities mean chameleons can see the whole three hundred sixty degrees surrounding them, without ever moving their heads.
• 15:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: But chameleons aren't the only animals with three hundred sixty degree vision.
• 15:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Dragonflies have the largest eyes of all insects in terms of ratio and devote a whopping eighty percent of their brain power to controlling and processing sight.
• 15:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's a lot of effort just to look at something but what makes it all worthwhile is that Dragonflies are able to see the world in ultra multi-color.
• 15:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: What does that even mean?
• 15:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, you and I have three teeny weeny little things in our eyes called opposites.
• 16:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: We have one red option, one blue option, and one green option, meaning every color we see is some combination of those three colors.
• 16:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Dragonflies by comparison have thirty options, meaning they can see polarized and ultraviolet light on top of those basic reds, greens, and blues.
• 16:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Next up, native to North America, the small desert grasslands whipped tail lizard is just like any other average reptile.
• 16:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Except in this subspecies, there are no males.
• 16:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: None.
• 16:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not one.
• 16:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now some of you might already be wondering if there are no males, how can these lizards reproduce?
• 16:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: or exist for that matter.
• 16:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, this all-female species reproduces through a complex process called Myosis.
• 16:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Myosis happens when one of the lizard cells divides to form daughter cells.
• 16:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: The DNA in those cells multiplies and multiplies until there's enough DNA for the miracle of life to occur and fertilized eggs are laid.
• 17:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Sounds pretty simple, right?
• 17:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, these lizards aren't just all female, they're also all clones.
• 17:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Since no new DNA gets introduced into the reproduction process, the lizards offspring are exact replica clones of themselves.
• 17:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: That might sound creepy, but I know that if I could get two or three tiny clones of my own, I'd be able to make way more episodes.
• 17:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Despite being an all-female species, some whipped-tail lizards do exhibit male-like behavior, like refusing to ask for directions.
• 17:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm kidding.
• 17:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: They actually take on masculine characteristics and can even act as a pseudo-mate to other members of their group.
• 17:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Looks like these lizards don't need no man.
• 17:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: The only downside to being a whiptail lizard is that due to the cloning process, there is very little genetic diversity among the population.
• 18:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Any threat, biological or environmental to an individual becomes a threat to the entire group because of their genetic similarity.
• 18:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: That being said, desert grasslands whiptail lizards aren't going anywhere soon.
• 18:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: The International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified them as a species of least concern, so long may these amazons thrive.
• 18:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now you might have heard that owls are able to rotate their heads a full breakneck, three hundred sixty degrees around.
• 18:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry to be the one to break this to you, but that's wrong.
• 18:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just an urban legend.
• 18:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, most owls can rotate their head, one hundred thirty five degrees in either direction, giving them a total of two hundred seventy degrees of rotational space, horizontally and vertically.
• 18:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: You see instead of spherical eyeballs, owls have eye tubes that go far back into their skulls.
• 18:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: While this gives them incredible long range vision, it means their eyes are fixed in place, so they have to turn their heads to see.
• 19:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: The way in which the owl's bone structure works means that they can turn their heads almost all the way around without cutting off the blood flow to their brains.
• 19:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: If humans tried that, let's just say it wouldn't end well.
• 19:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: We don't need to, though.
• 19:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Humans do just fine with our heads facing forward in our orb-like eyes that can swivel around in their sockets.
• 19:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Owls have had to develop this neck-breaking ability due to the poor mobility of their eyes, so thank goodness they're so good at it.
• 19:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are very few animals that live up to their name, but the superb bird of paradise is definitely one of them.
• 19:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: spread throughout the rainforest of New Guinea, the superb bird of paradise is a small blue and black bird with a hidden talent.
• 19:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: When a male is courting a female, he releases a large black feather cape from his back, revealing his striking blue-green breast and transforming himself into an unholy vision that went viral recently.
• 20:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Once the male has captivated a nearby female with this transformation, he begins tapping his tail against the ground, creating the beat for a dance he circles the female with.
• 20:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: So a costume change, a fancy flourish, and a dance.
• 20:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Why go through all this trouble just to impress a potential girlfriend?
• 20:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, if a man in a feather cape begins circling me and banging his backside on the ground, I'd say.
• 20:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Listen, I think we should start seeing other people.
• 20:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, when it comes to the superb bird of paradise, there's a huge gap between the number of females and males with females typically rejecting between fifteen and twenty suitors before settling down with a mate.
• 20:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's some fierce competition.
• 20:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: No wonder they're always pulling out all the stops.
• 20:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: We all know fish can't breathe on land, right?
• 20:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right?
• 20:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: This next fish will make you think again.
• 21:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: The mud skipper looks like a mud splattered frog like thing and they can grow up to twelve inches in length.
• 21:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: While technically classified as a fish, this species has developed air pockets around its gills, giving it the ability to breathe on land for several minutes at a time.
• 21:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: When their wet mud skippers can also breathe through the lining of the skin on their mouth and throat.
• 21:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Scientists call this kind of breathing cutaneous respiration, which means the mud skipper lacks the respiratory structure to remain on land indefinitely and must eventually return from once it came.
• 21:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank God.
• 21:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: While out of the water, the mud skipper uses its fins to propel itself across the ground.
• 21:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Scientists often point out that the development of this ability is evidence of evolution.
• 21:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's right, evolution, happening right before our eyes.
• 21:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: What a time to be alive.
• 21:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now lastly, let's talk about the Jesus Christ lizard.
• 22:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Native to Central and South America, the green basilisk lizard is no ordinary lizard.
• 22:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, he's the son of the great lizard in the sky, the lizard who created the lizard world in just six lizard days.
• 22:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: And now this lizard has come down from lizard heaven to save us from our lizard sins.
• 22:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Praise be to Jesus lizard.
• 22:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just joking.
• 22:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus lizard isn't real, but the green basilisk lizard is nicknamed the Jesus lizard because of its astonishing ability to walk on water.
• 22:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Unfortunately, he doesn't turn the water into wine as he runs over it.
• 22:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, biblical powers aside, how does the green basilisk lizard achieve this extraordinary feat?
• 22:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, this little reptile is pretty low on the food chain and its natural habitat and is frequently preyed upon by birds and snakes.
• 22:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, it's developed this unique ability as a means to evade those predators.
• 23:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: to escape over the water so quickly it relies on its large hind feet which have flaps of skin stretched between each toe.
• 23:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: As it slaps its foot down on the water, the web of its toes creates a cavity, almost like an air bubble.
• 23:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Gathering enough speed it uses the air to push forward.
• 23:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: to stop it from sinking, the lizard minimizes downward forces by pulling its foot upward before the cavity collapses.
• 23:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Considering their mortal, these lizards are exceptional waterwalkers.
• 23:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: They can reach a speed of five feet per second across a watery surface, traveling a maximum of fifteen feet, but before they have to swim.
• 23:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, they may not be the real Jesus, but this is certainly a religion I could get into.
• 23:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I hope you were amazed at the unbelievable things animals are able to do.
• 23:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening, see you next time.