Flying Snake 81, Trial 507

3D Model

Undulation enables gliding in flying snakes

Isaac J. Yeaton, Shane D. Ross, Grant A. Baumgardner, and John J. Socha

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-0935-4

doi: 10.1038/s41567-020-0935-4

Reconstructed wing-body of C. paradisi snake 81 (trial 507), from the indoor glide experiments. The snake’s mass is 107.2 g and snout-vent length is 85 cm. Snake 81 was the heaviest individual tested. The visualization shows the time-varying body posture as the animal glides through the arena. From the analysis presented in the main text, this trial has the following average spatial and temporal wave characteristics: undulation frequency: 1.15 Hz, number of spatial periods of bending: 1.46, horizontal wave amplitude: 98°, vertical wave amplitude: 31°, dorsoventral bending angle: 12°.