Study solves mystery of how geckos walk on water

It's official, the humble gecko is the Maserati of reptiles. Despite being just a few centimetres long, the gecko is known for its superior acrobatic skills and ability to power through the most challenging terrain, such as, climbing the tallest trees and running across cold, slippery ice. Scientists have now cracked perhaps its most head-scratching talent of all: how it walks on water. With further research these insights could support engineers to develop swimming robots for extreme environments, such as flooded areas. In the new paper published in Current Biology a team of researchers from the Universities of Oxford, California Berkeley, Rockefeller University, Washington, the Max Planck Institute and the Georgia Institute of Technology set out to see how the lizard moves and which of its features allow for its remarkable locomotion across water. The team ran a series of experiments, such as gait analysis in water and soapy water conditions. They also studied high speed video of the lizard seemingly walking on water, and compared it with clips of its other superior movements, such as running and climbing at similar speeds.