c/asklemmy · by bricked@feddit.org · 210d

Which living creatures can swim and fly, but not walk?

Whenever I see this picture I think of this:

| Creature | Swims | Walks | Flies |
| -------- | ----- | ----- | ----- |
| Dog      | X     | X     |       |
| Fish     | X     |       |       |
| Bird     |       | X     | X     |
| Duck     | X     | X     | X     |

Notice how for each combination of swimming, walking and flying, there is a living creature that can do just that, with the exception of swimming and flying.

Sure there are flying fish, but they glide rather than fly. Did evolution really forget to cover this niche?

251 points · 70 comments · view on lemmy.world

70 Comments

ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world · 80 pts · 210d (4 replies)

Dragonflies.

Their nymph phase is aquatic and in their adult phase they only fly. Their legs are only for grasping.

FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io · 15 pts · 210d (2 replies)

Pretty sure I've seen dragon flies crawling along plants on land?

ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 209d

They can shift around a little bit, but they don't really walk as a means of travel.

corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 209d

Pretty sure I've seen dragon flies crawling along plants on land?

Yes, you are pretty sure. Glad I could answer your question.

bricked@feddit.org · 5 pts · 210d

Good idea! I think fireflies can walk (over short distances), but maybe there are other insects close to water that can't.

Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world · 65 pts · 210d (6 replies)

Flying Fish

trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 210d (5 replies)

They don't really fly though, just glide a short distance after a jump.

NOT_RICK@lemmy.world · 37 pts · 210d

Falling, with style!

jqubed@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 210d (1 reply)

If they actually generate lift I’d call it flying, but I don’t know if they do

FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io · 6 pts · 210d

Gliding requires lift, but the forward momentum they have is mostly generated while they're still in the water as far as I know.

Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 210d (1 reply)

That's more than I do.

DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 210d

Same. I can't even swim.

tal@lemmy.today · 50 pts · 210d (4 replies)

Note that Markdown does tables:

|Creature|Swims|Walks|Flies|
|-|-|-|-|
|Dog|X|X||
|Fish|X|||
|Bird||X|X|
|Duck|X|X|X|

Yields:

Creature	Swims	Walks	Flies
Dog	X	X
Fish	X
Bird		X	X
Duck	X	X	X

bricked@feddit.org · 10 pts · 210d (1 reply)

Thanks, but it didn't render well on my client, so I wanted to play save.

Fmstrat@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 207d

Sounds like it's time to report an issue

trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 210d (1 reply)

Depends on the markdown dialect, it's not a standard feature. I didn't know Lemmy supports it.

tal@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 209d

[ removed ]

EfreetSK@lemmy.world · 47 pts · 209d

These things:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_fish

SwingingTheLamp@piefed.zip · 35 pts · 210d (2 replies)

The common loon flies and swims, but isn't able to walk.

DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 210d

TIL:

Loons are excellent swimmers, using their feet to propel themselves above and under water. However, since their feet are located far back on the body, loons have difficulty walking on land, though they can effectively run short distances to reach water when frightened. Thus, loons avoid coming to land, except for mating and nesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NK7t3cff30

bricked@feddit.org · 11 pts · 210d

Thanks! That's exactly what I've been searching for.

Jerb322@lemmy.world · 30 pts · 210d (2 replies)

Cormorants don't walk well... Their legs are set far back on their body for more efficient swimming.

bricked@feddit.org · 16 pts · 210d

I think this and loons are the closest to what I've been searching for! I even found a video of a loon having to be rescued because it's unable to walk.

LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net · 6 pts · 210d

Loons are another one.

anon_8675309@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 209d (4 replies)

Flying fish

udon@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 209d (3 replies)

The fish only says it can't walk

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 209d (2 replies)

lungfish

udon@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 209d (1 reply)

Okay, but does it fly? Find me a fish that can do all three

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 209d

Lungfish in a hang glider

Berengaria_of_Navarre@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 209d

A paraplegic seaplane pilot

python@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 209d (5 replies)

Genus Chrysopelea, commonly referred to as flying snakes. Most snakes are perfectly fine swimmers, so I bet that Genus can swim as well.

Gonzako@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 209d

I personally can't wait for the snakenado trilogy to come out

bricked@feddit.org · 3 pts · 209d

That's pretty cool and also quite scary!

CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org · 2 pts · 209d (2 replies)

You have to take a restrictive definition of "walk", though.

python@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 209d (1 reply)

huh, is it restrictive to say that you need some number of legs to be able to walk?

CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org · 0 pts · 209d

In this context, one way of looking at it is just propulsion against the ground vs. through the air or through the water. By that definition snakes, or even something like snails, are walkers.

And, for what it's worth, even if you require legs there are edge cases. Is inchworming a kind of slither, or a kind of walk?

Fermion@mander.xyz · 11 pts · 209d

We need to add digging/ tunneling to the grid.

SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 10 pts · 210d (3 replies)

I've always been of the opinion since fish can breathe underwater just like birds breathe above water, all fish are technically flying in their own environment.

bricked@feddit.org · 8 pts · 210d (2 replies)

Does that also mean that birds swim in the air?

psx_crab@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 210d

Air is just significantly less dense water.

SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 210d

I would say yes.

noxypaws@pawb.social · 10 pts · 209d (1 reply)

Loon

CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org · 4 pts · 209d

That actually might be the best answer! Flying fish only glide.

chuckleslord@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 209d

All fish fly, just not through the air.

And, uh, The Common Loon is a creature that can swim and fly, but can't walk. It's feet are too far back to be able to walk.

DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 209d

It's called a @FlyingSquid@lemmy.world

notsosure@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 210d (4 replies)

I don’t think ducks walk; they waddle 😂

ordnance_qf_17_pounder@reddthat.com · 11 pts · 210d (2 replies)

So do I when I get hit in the balls

DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 210d

Thanks for sharing.

corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 209d

Ttiwwop

socsa@piefed.social · 3 pts · 209d

Unlike geese, who menace

MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 209d (4 replies)

I would vote for the gannet as able to fly and swim. They dive incredibly fast to catch fish, so they go deep, and once down there, they use their wings to swim after fish.

Great article here, with photos: https://www.naturettl.com/underwater-world-gannets/

ulterno@programming.dev · 0 pts · 209d (3 replies)

So while it needs to get out to breathe, it can still swim underwater for as long as it has breath. Nice.
However, those feet look like they can be used to walk.

MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 208d (2 replies)

Yes, that's true. But it's more a stumbling waddle than a walk. I looked at some videos of gannet colonies, and hardly any of the tens of thousands of birds are walking. I think like most of these diving seabirds their feet are set well back.

This is a really nice vid of a Canadian colony: https://youtu.be/g9bzWqfIu2Y

ulterno@programming.dev · 0 pts · 207d (1 reply)

Considering that I am including a snake's movements in "walking" in this context, I'd say that's good enough.
Honestly though, considering 2/3 of the planet surface (and increasing) is water, one would think there would be some answer to this, but I suppose it has something to do with the physics of it...

There is a lot of vertical space in the oceans and it is possible for some, to escape to depths that other species cannot.
As compared to that, fast vertical movement in a land area will mostly include air-time, meaning gliding will give an advantage by reducing fall damage.
There is a sharp drop in the buoyancy from water to air, meaning that anyone wanting to move to air to escape underwater threats will require much lower body densities, which in turn make it harder to have long deep-water time and there are more resources underwater anyway

So I think that the air-time of flying-fish is optimised more than enough for such a purpose and that the birds that we see diving to get food are more from the evolutionary route of - land animals that can fly, adapting to get food from deeper into the water.

MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 206d

I'm finding this discussion so interesting! It's honestly something I'd never thought of at all, but it's an excellent exercise for my brain. Gannets have evolved special protection for their brains when diving, btw. They hit the water at 60mph. I wish we'd evolved some cooler attributes than opposable thumbs and walking upright. Gills, for example. Ah well.

s@piefed.world · 6 pts · 210d (4 replies)

Dolphins?

Limerance@piefed.social · 3 pts · 209d (3 replies)

They fly?

SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 209d

So long and thanks for all the fish ...

s@piefed.world · 3 pts · 209d

They fly now

zabadoh@ani.social · 2 pts · 209d

If you bolt jet packs onto them, yes.

GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 210d

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JBPinkle@bookwyr.me · 5 pts · 210d (1 reply)

Did evolution really forget to cover this niche?

IANAScientist, but maybe being a creature that can potentially fly onto land but not be able to walk once there was an evolutionary disadvantage, and was bred out.

bricked@feddit.org · 2 pts · 210d

You're right, but apparently this is a trade-off that paid off for some of the creatures in this thread.

SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 209d

Ducks are birds

Bytemeister@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 209d

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Lanusensei87@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 209d

Japanese flying squids?

FritzApollo@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 210d

🦇

sem@piefed.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 209d

[ removed ]