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First published online August 17, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 3358-3369 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02381

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Becoming airborne without legs: the kinematics of take-off in a flying snake, Chrysopelea paradisi

John J. Socha

Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA

Address correspondence to: Argonne National Laboratory, Building 438, Sector 32, 9700 Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA (e-mail: jjsocha{at}uchicago.edu)

Accepted 12 June 2006

Among terrestrial vertebrate gliders, take-off presents a unique problem to flying snakes (Chrysopelea). Without legs, snakes must use fundamentally different kinematics to begin their aerial trajectories. To determine the effectiveness of different modes of take-off in a gliding snake (C. paradisi), I videotaped multiple views of take-off from a horizontal branch and quantified the two- and three-dimensional coordinates of three points on the snake's body. Performance values derived from these coordinates were used to describe take-off in C. paradisi, compare modes of take-off, and make predictions about the ecological use of take-off in the wild. Four types of take-off were identified. In most observed take-offs, snakes used a vertically looped take-off (termed `anchored J-loop' and `sliding J-loop'), which represent the only true jumping in snakes. In an anchored J-loop take-off, the snake formed an anterior hanging loop and then jumped by holding the posterior body static on the branch and accelerating up and away from the branch. This was the most commonly used take-off mode. A sliding J-loop take-off was similar but occurred with the entire body in motion. Snakes using such take-offs lowered less of their body below the branch than in an anchored J-loop take-off, resulting in shorter preparation and vertical acceleration durations and producing a lower maximum vertical velocity. However, these differences did not produce significant differences after the snakes were fully airborne and had started their aerial trajectories. The non-looped take-offs (termed `dive' and `fall') were the least kinematically complex. Compared to the non-looped take-offs, looped take-offs allowed snakes to reach higher, range farther, and attain greater speeds. Futhermore, snakes that launched with looped take-offs traveled farther over the course of a full glide trajectory when starting from a 10 m high perch. Take-off in C. paradisi is qualitatively similar to that in other species of Chrysopelea and may represent a suite of behaviors that preceded the evolution of gliding flight in snakes.

Key words: Chrysopelea paradisi, take-off, kinematics, snake, glider, performance, behavior, locomotion, jumping

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