Scientific American: Tree snakes create 'lasso' to climb

UC biologist Bruce Jayne helped discover a new way that snakes can move

Scientific American talked to University of Cincinnati professor Bruce Jayne about the startling discovery of a new kind of snake movement he and his collaborators are calling "lasso locomotion."

Jayne and biologists Julie Savidge and Thomas Seibert from Colorado State University described a new form of snake movement in an article published Jan. 11 in the journal Current Biology.

Jayne previously described in detail the mechanics behind the other ways that snakes slither, climb, reach and burrow. But this discovery was extraordinary, he told Scientific American.

"This lasso locomotion is just from outer space compared to all of the other variations," Jayne said. "I've been studying the locomotion of snakes on and off for more than 40 years and I was absolutely stunned."

More locally, WVXU also spoke to Jayne about his startling discovery.

"It is a really bizarre way of moving that allows snakes to climb big cylindrical surfaces," Jayne told WVXU.

Read the Scientific American story.

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