In nature there is a lot of all surprising. Shaggy crab Kiwa hirsuta, capybara - a rodent weighing 50 kg, a delicate pink flamingo, a chest of drawers dragon - a 150-kilogram lizard, cubomedusa - one of the most deadly creatures on the planet, and many others. Also unusual is a flying snake. The article will tell in detail about it.
What is this miracle
In South and Southeast Asia, as well as on the islands of the Malay archipelago (by the way, the largest in the world) live amazingly decorated tree snakes. This is a scientific name. In everyday life, Asians of an animal are called simply - a flying snake.
In fact, it is a harmless, non-toxic already belonging to the genus Chrysopelea. In total, this genus has 5 species:
- common, or golden decorated snake (chrysopelea ornata);
- decorated paradise snake (chrysopelea paradisi);
- crimson-black (chrysopelea pelias);
- Moluccan (chrysopelea rhodopleuron);
- endemic of Sri Lanka, the least studied to date (chrysopelea taprobanica).
They love tropical rainforests, often find themselves near a person’s home.
Description
All these snakes (more precisely, snakes) are very long - up to 1.5 meters, live in the crowns of trees, painted very beautifully. Patterns help them disguise themselves in foliage. Especially colorful outfit at the paradise tree snake (pictured below).
Narrow and long scales tightly fit the flexible body, special guards on the abdomen and tail help to climb and hold well on the branches of the reptile. The head of a flying snake is flattened from above, clearly separated from the body, large round eyes are located on the sides.
Representatives of the genus lead a daily lifestyle. They feed on small rodents, lizards, frogs. A flying snake loves to feast on birds and bats.
All these reptiles are ovipositing. The female lays up to 10 eggs, of which after 3 months snakes hatch up to 12-18 cm long.
Between themselves species differ only in size (the longest chrysopelea ornata, it is also the most volatile) and color.
Wingless flight
The most amazing thing is that the representatives of the genus Chrysopelea can fly! A flying snake flies over distances of up to 100 meters at a speed of 8 m / s, and it can not only plan through the air from the upper branch to the lower one, but change direction in flight and even fly up like birds.
Before the jump, it is compressed into a spiral spring, holding on to the branch only with its tail, then it abruptly pushes away from the support and straightens, planning in the right direction. In flight, her body becomes flat, the belly is drawn in almost completely. In addition, a flying snake can jump from branch to branch, making a series of short jumps, like a squirrel.
Recently, the American biologist Jake Socha (University of Chicago), after much tracking, was still able to capture the amazing flight of a paradise snake.
