Lizard Swims Through Sand by Retracting Its Legs & Moving Like a Snake

The sandfish lizard appears to "swim" like a fish through sand, but how exactly the animal does it has long puzzled biophysicists. Now, a study published in Science reveals that the four-legged creature really does swim through sand like it would in water by retracting its legs and undulating its body. To examine the lizard's movement, researchers had to peek underground. They did this using X-ray imaging, and found that once the lizard, or skink, has dived beneath the sand, it doesn't paddle.