The unique tree snake in Australia can ... jump from tree to tree

Australia is a place of nurturing strange and wonderful things that attract the curiosity of many biologists. Recently, researchers from Virginia Tech have discovered something curious about tree snakes.

In fact, tree snakes are often encountered in Australia until recently was noticed by the ability to jump from branch to branch.

Fortunately, the scientists said the Australian tree snake could jump to the Dendrelaphis genus is not venomous and harmless to humans.

This snake is noted for its ability to jump from branch to branch.

There have been a number of species of tree snakes that glide easily from tree to tree and climb on their own. For animals without limbs, they are very special and very agile.

There are five flying snakes of the genus Chrysopelea spread across Southeast Asia, China, India and Sri Lanka. Although not true flying, they are capable of gliding like a similarly misunderstood flying squirrel.

Back in 2010, Dr. Jake Socha, a professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics at Virginia Tech, was lucky enough to shoot an extremely rare footage of a tree snake in Australia.

Later, researcher Michelle Graham was surprised and determined to build a special experiment to test whether she could coax the Australian tree snake to show off her jumping skills by jumping over the distance between the two. people.

Michelle Graham found that snakes in the genus Dendrelaphis can jump and cross gaps. To do this, they tend to roll low and toss themselves up, using their own motivation to carry their bodies through the gap.

This finding is useful because understanding the biology of how snakes move on trees can be important in developing AI and robots that can navigate and explore unusual terrain such as collapsing buildings. and even the surface of other planets in special missions.

• Secrets of flying snakes