Chrysopelea is also known by its common name “flying snake”.
It climbs using ridge scales along its belly, pushing against rough bark surface of tree trunks, allowing it to move vertically up a tree. Upon reaching the end of a tree’s branch, the snake makes a J-shape bend, leans forward to select the level of inclination it wishes to use to control its flight path.
Once it decides on a destination, it propels itself by thrusting its body up and away from the tree, sucking in its stomach and flaring out its ribs to turn its body in a “pseudo concave wing”, all the while making a continual serpentine motion to stabilize its direction in midair in order to land safely.
Great, after watching this video, now I have to watch out for flying snakes as ground and tree bound ones. Terrific.
Bottom photo by Jake Socha in National Geographic.
Via Wikipedia.
this animal is beautiful and scary. Can you imagine walking down a path and having one fall on your head? It would be completely unexpected.
I have to admit, when I came across this my first thought was to show this to as many friends I could think of who were afraid of snakes.
Even though I’m not particularly phobic about snakes and am in the wrong part of the world completely for this, I have been finding myself looking up a lot more.