This Tree Snake Climbs with A Lasso-Like Motion
Published:14 Jan.2021    Source:Cell Press

Researchers reporting in Current Biology on January 11 have discovered that invasive brown tree snakes living on Guam can get around in a way that had never been seen before. The discovery of the snake's lasso-like locomotion for climbing their way up smooth vertical cylinders has important implications, both for understanding the snakes and for conservation practices aimed at protecting birds from them.

 
"Our most important finding is a new mode of snake locomotion," says co-senior author Julie Savidge of Colorado State University (CSU). "Only four major types have been recognized for nearly 100 years, and we have discovered a fifth mode."