Swimming in the Sand

On a toasty summer day, we might head to the beach, stroll across the sand and go for a refreshing dip. For certain lizards in more arid regions they can still take a swim to escape the heat - only they'll be doing it in sand itself.

The latest issue of Science has a paper [subscription required] describing the movement of the sandfish lizard, a desert reptile that can swim through sand, to cool off or escape predators, by wiggling like an eel. Check out the cool vids from the supplementary material:

Video 1: The sandfish burying itself in the sand

Video 2: X-ray cinematography of the sandfish sub-surface locomotion.

Videos should be free to access, but may require Quicktime.

[h/t: Why Evolution is True, who also includes a neat paper about tiger moths who 'jam' the sonar of predatory bats]