Pugnacious dancers: Amazing grebes are perfectly suited to life on and under the water

摘要

The waterbirds known as grebes are more adapted to an aquatic lifestyle than any other group. They don't have to go on land at all. Courtship, copulation, and feeding take place on or in the water. They even build floating nests and brood youngsters on their backs. Grebes' lower legs and feet are perfectly suited to the water. They are strongly compressed laterally to minimize drag while swimming and diving. The toes are flattened and have stiff, flat lobes. Even the "claws" are flattened; they resemble human fingernails.