August 20, 2009

Water striders, the familiar semi-aquatic bugs gliding across the lake at the cottage, have a novel body form that allows them to walk on water, but this was not always the case.

Achieving the gliding ability required the evolution of a unique arrangement of the legs, with the mid-legs greatly elongated. Scientists at the University of Toronto’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology have discovered the gene behind this evolutionary change. Read the full story at News @ the University of Toronto.