The world expert on gliding in snakes is Jake Socha; he worked
under Mike LaBarbera at University Chicago years ago, and now
has his own biomechanics group at Virginia Tech. Jake's snake
work was featured on National Geographic, and the program is
actually available in full version on YouTube now, albeit with
some ad breaks: Snakes That Fly As a quick synopsis, essentially
what happens is that Chrysopelea individuals can glide by
flattening themselves (spreading their ribs) and moving in a
repeated S-curve that spins counter-vortices over both sides of
their bodies, creating a low pressure zone over their backs that
allows the snakes to glide. My understanding is that the snakes
essentially drop to launch, building speed and then pulling out
in a large J-hook, though they may add some spring to the
initial launch by unloading from a coiled position. It should be
noted that this is the exception that makes the rule: every
other flyer, both gliders and powered flyers, that has been
examined in the lab uses some