The new robot runs across an uneven surface in a way modeled off a zebra-tailed lizard. Image courtesy of Chen Li, Tingnan Zhang, Daniel Goldman Designing a robot that can easily move across loose ...

How future Mars missions could use robots designed to walk like LIZARDS to scamper across the sandy terrain Researchers learn lessons from desert-dwelling lizards to develop efficient walking robots ...

Zebra-tailed lizards run across sand at an impressive clip, barely losing speed as the sand gets soft. The gecko is not so lucky; for it, soft sand makes for a hard trudge.

In work to appear in The Journal of Experimental Biology, the team shows that the zebra-tailed lizard exploits the fluid-like properties of sand in much the same way.

Apparently the eight-acre size of my "accidental preserve" is sufficient. There seems to be a full complement, if not abundance, of small rodents and lizards. I even found a snake track in the sand.

Zebra-tailed lizards, in contrast, are thriving in hotter low-elevation areas. The researchers spotted many of them darting between bushes.

William H. Karasov, Roger A. Anderson, Correlates of Average Daily Metabolism of Field‐Active Zebra‐Tailed Lizards (Callisaurus draconoides), Physiological Zoology, Vol. 71, No. 1 (January/February ...