Video: Razor Clam's Rapid Burrowing Technique

View full size image

The Atlantic Razor clam could give us ideas on self-burying robots. The clam can dig at a rate of a centimeter per second using its foot. Researcher Amos Winter from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found the clam extends its foot into the sand a little ways and then inflates it (fills it with blood) to anchor it in place. The clam then contracts it shell which pulls some liquid in toward its body enabling it to pull itself down farther into the sand.

Follow Life's Little Mysteries on Twitter @llmysteries, then join us on Facebook.