Snakes are adapted to crawl on firm ground and tree branches, but there is a group of snakes that have also developed the ability to fly. It is the genus Chrysopelea , which is made up of 5 species of snake native to the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia. In reality, these reptiles glide from tree to tree or down to the ground in the same way that squirrels, lizards, and flying frogs do. But unlike these, flying snakes lack the body structures, such as membranous extensions, to glide through the air. Still, they plunge into the void with an enviable ability to move, hunt, and flee from danger.
How they do it is a mystery. For years, the herpetologist Jake Socha, from the University of Chicago, in the USA, has recorded these snakes with special equipment to unravel the biomechanics of their flight. Socha has discovered that they use their ribs to crush the body into a parachute, and that they "fly" as if they were swimming in the shape of an undulating S.
