Mudskippers
Almost everyone will recognise a mudskipper when they see one: they are the creature most commonly depicted when evolution is discussed, especially the part where ‘some fish left the water, learned to breath and grew limbs’. Of course, evolution is not quite that neat and tidy and we are not actually descended from mudskippers – but as an analogy it works fine. These small but feisty creatures can bury themselves in wet mud, and manoeuvre themselves along using their fins and tails to ‘skip’ along the damp sand or muddy surface – hence their name! they have bulging eyes which they can use to watch above and below the surface of the water at the same time, a very useful trick indeed! They can also climb rocks and trees and jump as high as two feet off the ground should they need to.
