For many years, scientists have wondered how Chrysopelea paradisi, known as the "flying" snakes, can stay afloat   as they leap from one tree to another, sometimes covering a distance of as long as 79 feet. Now a new study has explained that it may be all to do with the way they move. The report was published by Virginia Tech scientist, Jake Soeha who has been studying the flying snakes for a number of years. He began his research by first focusing on its launch technique. He discovered that the snakes first make themselves completely flat and then move side to side; they glide   rapidly at a speed of between 26-33 feet per second, before leaping off. Once they take off, their bodies actually tilt   at about a 25-degree angle   to the airflow created by their flight. When they first leap, the snakes start to drop altitude to pick up speed. With the front of their bodies held stiff, they start a strange air-gliding dance, by moving from side to side. This turns their entire body into one big wing, allowing them to glide across long distances. The findings are not only exciting because they solve the puzzle of how the snakes are able to fly, but also because the same principles could be used to build small flying instruments. The flying snakes that are native to South and South East Asia spend most of their lives in trees in the lowland tropical forests. They grow between 2-3 feet long and are about as wide as a human finger. As would be expected, the smaller and lighter ones are more able to "glide" for longer distances than the bigger and heavier ones. They are not the only wingless animals that can fly -- there are flying frogs that use similar gliding techniques to make their way across forests. The new study shows that these snakes can fly because of_.
the places they live the way they move the life habits they have the long bodies they have