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

Journal of Experimental Biology

Volumn 209, Issue 17, 2006, Pages 3358-3369

  Socha, John J ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO   (United States)

^b ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY   (United States)

Author keywords

Behavior; Chrysopelea paradisi; Glider; Jumping; Kinematics; Locomotion; Performance; Snake; Take off

Indexed keywords

ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE; ANIMAL; ARTICLE; BIOMECHANICS; COMPARATIVE STUDY; FLYING; PHYSIOLOGY; SINGAPORE; SNAKE; VIDEORECORDING;

ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE; ANIMALS; BIOMECHANICS; COLUBRIDAE; FLIGHT, ANIMAL; SINGAPORE; VIDEO RECORDING;

SERPENTES; VERTEBRATA;

EID: 33749555350     PISSN: 00220949     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.02381     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. Alexander, R. M. (1991). Elastic mechanisms in primate locomotion. Z. Morphol. Anthropol. 78, 315-320.
2. Alfaro, M. E. (2002). Forward attack modes of aquatic feeding garter snakes. Funct. Ecol. 16, 204-215.
3. Alfaro, M. E. (2003). Sweeping and striking: a kinematic study of the trunk during prey capture in three thamnophiine snakes. J. Exp. Biol. 206, 2381-2392.
4. Bishop, K. L. (2006). The relationship between 3-D kinematics and gliding performance in the southern flying squirrel, Glaucomys volans. J. Exp. Biol. 209, 689-701.
5. Bonser, R. and Rayner, J. (1996). Measuring leg thrust forces in the common starling. J. Exp. Biol. 199, 435-439.
6. Campbell, J. A. and Lamar, W. W. (1989). The Venomous Reptiles of Latin America. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
7. Caple, G., Balda, R. P. and Willis, W. R. (1983). The physics of leaping animals and the evolution of preflight. Am. Nat. 121, 455-476.
8. Drummond, H. (1983). Aquatic foraging in garter snakes: a comparison of specialists and generalists. Behaviour 86, 1-30.
9. Earls, K. D. (2000). Kinematics and mechanics of ground take-off in the starling Sturnis vulgaris and the quail Coturnix coturnix. J. Exp. Biol. 203, 725-739.
10. Emerson, S. B. (1985). Jumping and leaping. In Functional Vertebrate Morphology (ed. M. Hildebrand, D. M. Bramble, K. F. Liem and D. B. Wake), pp. 58-72. London: Belknap Press.
11. Essner, R. L. (2002). Three-dimensional launch kinematics in leaping, parachuting and gliding squirrels. J. Exp. Biol. 205, 2469-2477.
12. Flower, S. S. (1899). Notes on a second collection of reptiles made in the Malay Peninsula and Siam, from November 1896 to September 1898, with a list of the species recorded from those countries. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 16, 682-685.
13. Greene, H. W. (1997). Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature. Berkeley: University of California Press.
14. Greenwald, O. E. (1974). Thermal dependence of striking and prey capture by gopher snakes. Copeia 1974, 141-148.
15. Halloy, M. and Burghardt, G. M. (1990). Ontogeny of fish capture and ingestion in four species of garter snakes (Thamnophis). Behaviour 112, 299-318.
16. Heppner, F. H. and Anderson, J. G. T. (1985). Leg thrust important in flight take-off in the pigeon. J. Exp. Biol. 114, 285-288.
17. Jackson, S. M. (1999). Glide angle in the genus Petuurus and a review of gliding in mammals. Mamm. Rev. 30, 9-30.
18. Janoo, A. and Gasc, J.-P. (1992). High speed motion analysis of the predatory strike and fluorographic study of oesophageal deglutition in Vipera ammodytes: more than meets the eye. Amphib-Reptil. 13, 315-325.
19. Jayne, B. C., Voris, H. K. and Kiew, B. H. (1988). Diet, feeding behavior, growth, and numbers of a population of Cerberus rynchops (Serpentes: Homalopsinae) in Malaysia. Fieldana Zool. New Ser. 50, 1-15.
20. Kardong, K. V. and Bels, V. L. (1998). Rattlesnake strike behavior: kinematics. J. Exp. Biol. 201, 837-850.
21. Keith, M. M., Scheibe, J. S. and Hendershott, A. J. (2000). Launch dynamics in Glaucomys volans. In Biology of Gliding Mammals (ed. R. L. Goldingay and J. S. Scheibe), pp. 185-198. Furth: Filander Verlag.
22. Kral, K. (1998). Side-to-side head movements to obtain motion depth cues: a short review of research on the praying mantis. Behav. Proc. 43, 71-77.
23. Mundkur, T. (1978). A note on reproduction in the flying snake Chrysopelea ornata (Shaw). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 75, 854-859.
24. Nowak, R. M. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
25. Savitzky, B. A. C. (1992). Laboratory studies on piscivory in an opportunistic predator. In Biology of the Pitvipers (ed. J. A. Campbell and E. D. J. Brodie), pp. 347-368. Tyler, TX: Selva.
26. Shelford, M. A. (1906). A note on 'flying' snakes. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1, 227-230.
27. Socha, J. J. (2002a). Gliding flight in the paradise tree snake. Nature 418, 603-604.
28. Socha, J. J. (2002b). The biomechanics of flight in snakes. PhD thesis, University of Chicago, IL, USA.
29. Socha, J. J. and LaBarbera, M. (2005). Effects of size and behavior on aerial performance of two species of flying snakes (Chrysopelea). J. Exp. Biol. 208, 1835-1847.
30. Socha, J. J., O'Dempsey, T. and LaBarbera, M. (2005). A 3-D kinematic analysis of gliding in a flying snake, Chrysopelea paradisi. J. Exp. Biol. 208, 1817-1833.
31. Tobalske, B. W., Altshuler, D. L. and Powers, D. R. (2004). Take-off mechanics in hummingbirds (Trochilidae). J. Exp. Biol. 207, 1345-1352.
32. Tweedie, M. W. F. (1960). The Malayan gliding reptiles. Proc. South London Entomol. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1959, 97-103.
33. Van Riper, W. (1954). Measuring the speed of a rattlesnake's strike. Animal Kingdom 57, 50-53.
34. Vaughn-Arbuckle, K. H. (1959). Flying snakes. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 56, 640-642.
35. Vogel, S. (1994). Life in Moving Fluids. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
36. Voris, H. K., Voris, H. H. and Liat, L. B. (1978). The food and feeding behavior of a marine snake, Enhydrina schistosa (Hydrophiidae). Copeia 1978, 134-146.
37. Walker, J. A. (1997). QuickSAND. Quick Smoothing and Numerical Differentiation for the Power Macintosh.
38. Walker, J. A. (1998). Estimating velocities and accelerations of animal locomotion: a simulation experiment comparing numerical differentiation algorithms. J. Exp. Biol. 201, 981-995.
39. Walker, J. A. (2001). QuickImage. A modification of NIH Image with Enhanced Digitizing Tools.
40. Whitaker, P. B., Ellis, K. and Shine, R. (2000). The defensive strike of the Eastern Brownsnake, Pseudonaja textilis (Elapidae). Funct. Ecol. 14, 25-31.