Q: What are walking fish?*

A: Fish that are able to travel over land for extended periods of time.

Mudskippers have adapted to be able to spend days at a time moving out of water and even climbing mangrove trees. They carry water in their gill chambers in order to breathe, similar in method but exactly opposite of how humans use scuba gear to breathe under water. In addition to walking, they also eat and court on land. This adaptation has allowed them to gather extra resources and obtain additional space, two gravely important factors in the art of survival.

• Fish That Walk” (National Geographic) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLh4ODMBGJE

Evolution has shown us that humans evolved from fish and other animals that have survived have adapted to the changes in their environment. Now current researchers at McGill University showed that Polypterus, current walking fish, make significant behavioral and biological adaptations in just 8 months when placed in a terrestrial environment. “Stressful environmental conditions can often reveal otherwise cryptic anatomical and behavioral variation, a form of developmental plasticity,” says Emily Standen, at the University of Ottawa, who led the project. (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v513/n7516/full/nature13708.html)

• Walking fish reveal how our ancestors evolved onto land” (McGill University) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu0LMnT9S4k&feature=youtu.be

* Please refer to our list of successful people with disabilities.

“The opportunity of adversity” (Aimee Mullins TED Talk) -http://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_the_opportunity_of_adversity?language=en