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Video reveals that springtails are tiny acrobats

The animals' emergency jumps are more controlled than scientists realized

two springtails standing on a flat surface against a black backdrop

One tiny springtail (left) prepares to launch itself high off of a water surface with far more acrobatic control than researchers have recognized. The other springtail shows how easily these little animals stroll on water.

V.M. Ortega-Jiménez

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

It’s not just panic and chance. Some of nature’s extreme self-launchers, the springtails, turn out to be much more acrobatic than scientists thought.