Nature never seizes to amaze me!
Just look at this cute little fella i just heard about:
Yep a lizard, a bit weird looking though... So..what's so special about it?
Well, as you have probably guessed from the title of the post...It can swim in sand, hence it's common name, the "Sandfish".
Unfortunately, I couldn't find many decent videos exhibiting this amazing ability... Except for this video by Natgeo
They seem to be good in running too
https://youtube.com/shorts/Si75U_cgUU4?si=Ek4Htni5eIEoR-FX
Lmao at the ridiculous narration 😂
Scientifically described as scincus scincus, other common names it comes by are the common skink and the as the sandfish skink. The species occurs in the Sahara Desert and the Arabian Peninsula.
Here's an interesting piece of info from Wikipedia explaining how they manage to swim in the sand
X-ray imaging has demonstrated the lizard swims within sand using an undulatory gait with its limbs tucked against its sides rather than use its limbs as paddles to propel itself forward. Subsequent studies of the mathematics of sandfish sand-swimming, using robotic models, and electromyography show that the sandfish uses the optimum waveform to move through the sand with minimal energetic cost, given its anatomy.
And yes, they can actually breath under water sand! They get oxygen from the tiny pockets of trapped air in the sand! And thanks to a special little organ they don't drown...but simply sneeze the sand or any other craps that gets into:
They breathe the tiny pockets of air between grains of sand, and a specially-formed respiratory tract catches inhaled particles before they reach the lungs. These particles are then expelled via sneezing Source
Interestingly, there's a shit ton of videos on YouTube from people keeping them as pets! If you want a weird animal as a pet it seems this one is something you can actually get ^_^
Ok, hope you enjoyed reading about yet another amazing creature! Feel free to check the links above if you want to learn more. I'll close now with some more cool vids 😎
More Strange Animal Stuff
If you enjoyed this post here are some more amazing creatures I have recently blogged about:
- The Glowing Millipede
- The dead leaf moth
- The "flies eating bird shit "-like moth
- The Ant-like Mantis
- The Moth That Mimics Jumping Spiders
- The Iron Snail
- The Snake with the Googly Eyes
- The Dead Leaf Butterfly
- The Snail Tank
- That's one epic goat
- Why These Butterflies Drink Turtle Tears
- The penguin that takes ten thousand naps..every single day
- Real life face hugger
- The bacterium that poops gold
- The Cocktupus
- The Electric Clam
- You will never guess what this jellyfish like creature actually is!
- Half Spider, Half Ant Thing
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