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The strong limbs and remarkable metabolism of cheetahs allow them to reach land speeds of 80 miles per hour, while the common swift has developed a body and wings that allow him to stay in the air for 10 months at a time. In contrast, the slipping of the snake can be a bit disappointing. This reptiles lost their legs by natural selection and have grown to cover every continent other than Antarctica without feeling an obvious need to go back. But the more than 3,000 different species of snakes on the planet are a diverse whole. In many cases, we can see how snakes have evolved unique traits to help alleviate the disadvantage of limited mobility compared to agile – and typically mammalian – prey. rats and rabbits.
Venom and camouflage are especially common, but there’s more evolutionary sophistication at work here than the layman might know. Zoologists have long identified four types of movement snakes use to navigate their environment, but we continue to learn more about the way snakes move. We also find that there is often considerably more nuance and distinction between the movement style of snake species that may look similar to us. Researchers often propose new and more nuanced frameworks to explain the locomotion of snakes. Many are sensible options, but the four recognized methods remain the best general framework we have. Here’s what we know about how snakes move without legs.
1. Lateral Wave
If you’ve ever seen a snake in the wild, chances are it used lateral undulation. It is the most common form of exercise for snakes, mainly because it is still a very effective way of moving. The African black mamba is recognized as one of the world’s biggest snakes, and they can reach top speeds of 12 miles per hour with their traditional slither. What appears to be a seamless and smooth serpentine movement across the surface of the ground is the result of the snake’s contraction and release of muscles along the length of its body. By creating force at multiple points at once and activating the powerful dorsal muscles sequentially along the length of their long bodies, they can effectively wave their bodies forward in segments. These muscles create momentum, but the head and neck steer the snake’s body.
Lateral undulation has also spread so widely because it is such a flexible way to move without legs. The traction of their scales has transformed many snake species – including the green tree snake – into prodigious climbers. Sea snakes waving sideways to hunt fish in the water, and they’ve even developed fins that resemble oars so that they can bridge greater distances in the water more effectively. Despite this, some very specific adaptations were needed for snakes to develop such a form of locomotion.
From the impressively flexible relationship between their spines and their skin, to their scales designed to grip surfaces like a tire’s tread, the snake’s signature slither requires a convergence of highly specialized properties that develop over a long period of time. But perhaps most impressive are their fine motor skills, which must be able to quickly adapt to changes in friction and control the swing of the various segments of their slithering bodies around obstacles. Lateral undulation is the standard for most snakes, but it also turns out to be one of the most complex. Researchers have noticed distinct differences in the patterns and behavior of wavy snakes, with particularly notable differences between snakes waving on land and in water.
As research progresses, it is likely that lateral undulation will eventually be broken down into a wider variety of movement styles.
2. Concertina Movement
The method of movement known as concertina seems like one of the most straightforward approaches to movement, but there’s a reason we see far fewer snakes using concertina than snakes waving laterally. In concertina motion, snakes will bend their long bodies upward by tensing the muscles, then they use the extra length to push the front halves of their bodies forward and pull the back half back. It’s an uncomplicated form of movement that allows snakes to move straight instead of having to wave, but straining the muscles in this way takes significantly more energy than other methods of movement. It’s also not a particularly favorable move choice, simply because it poorly facilitates high-speed movement.
A 2018 study focused on the fossils of reptile and snake skulls provides both a plausible premise for the long-unanswered question of how snakes evolved from reptiles and a clue as to why snakes might evolve this particular form of mobility. The snake’s newly believed ancestor appears to be some sort of burrowing reptile, and natural selection eventually reduced the size of their legs to nothing. This unique bending approach would make sense to provide the forward momentum needed to dig through packed dirt and soil. It might be unique to think of snakes that use concertina movements as more primitive than other species, but the truth is that this style of movement is best specialized for certain species in certain environments. Most snakes that travel this way come from large species such as pythons and boas, but there is also a preference for this movement style among tree species. The bridging motion of harmonica movements makes it much easier to bridge the distance between branches or limbs when traveling high.
3. Side winding
sidewinder rattlesnakes are the snakes most known for their sideways movement style, but they are not the only snakes to exhibit this behavior. While functionally similar to the way lateral undulation works, crosswind snakes allow only part of their bodies to touch the surface of the ground and use this as a focal point for adjusting the rest of the body. This is more complicated than it looks, as a crosswind snake lifts its body off the ground. It may seem like a chaotic and ineffective mode of travel, but a crosswind rattlesnake can reach speeds of up to 29 miles per hour in their habitats during Mexico and the American southwest.
Sidewinding seems to have very limited use in the larger snake community, but that’s only because it evolved for the conditions of very specific habitats. In the case of the rattlesnake and the Saharan horned viper, the challenge to overcome sideways was the loose and hot sands of the scorching desert. Minimizing direct contact with the sand and regularly shifting contact points makes it easier for a hose to keep sand from shifting underneath. Homolopsine is the exception. Found everywhere Indonesia and Australia, these snakes use the sideways locomotion method to navigate their muddy ecosystems. Desert sidewinders can travel great distances efficiently without legs, but they are especially adept at climbing. Placing their weight as flat as possible on the dunes they are climbing allows them to practically climb the steepest sand surface.
4. Linear Locomotion:
rectilinear locomotion is similar to concertina movement in that it allows snakes to walk in a straight line and tends to be a preferred form of navigation for larger snakes, but snakes use strong muscles along the abdomen rather than lift themselves into high spirals. While this makes rectilinear locomotion a poor method of tree climbing, it is believed to be rooted in the same method of digging that defined locomotion of the earliest descendants of snakes. By lifting and pushing the body forward in slower and less dramatic movements, larger snakes can move at a constant clip while minimizing their energy expenditure.
Linear movement is often preferred in the largest snake species. That’s because, while rectilinear motion is one of the slowest forms of locomotion, it allows snakes to move almost silently. That’s a definite advantage for ambush hunters like boa constrictors. But for most snakes, rectilinear motion usually exists as a single tool in their larger motion toolkit. Tree snakes, as they combine rectilinear motion with concertina motion when navigating trees, and there is some evidence that most snake species will use it, even if they navigate primarily using lateral undulation.
Straight-line motion is also a preferred choice when trying to squeeze through tight spaces or navigate tunnels. It has proven to be such an effective means of transportation through difficult terrain such as mud and rocks that engineers have begun pursuing rectilinear motion as an alternative to wheeled robots. Especially in difficult environments, these types of robots hold great promise, not only for navigation in the environment, but also because of their reliability and relatively low mechanical failure rates.
Next one: Poisonous vs Poisonous Animals: 2 Major Differences Explained
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