For students and researchers: snake research papers

Papers cited in our articles

1. Socha, J. J. (2002). Gliding flight in the paradise tree snake. Nature, 418, 603–604. https://doi.org/10.1038/418603a Cited in our paradise flying snake article.
2. Socha, J. J., O'Dempsey, T. & LaBarbera, M. (2005). A 3-D kinematic analysis of gliding in a flying snake, Chrysopelea paradisi. Journal of Experimental Biology, 208, 1817–1833. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01579 Cited in our paradise flying snake article.
3. Socha, J. J. (2006). Becoming airborne without legs: the kinematics of take-off in a flying snake, Chrysopelea paradisi. Journal of Experimental Biology, 209, 3358–3369. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02381 Cited in our paradise flying snake article.
4. Yeaton, I. J., Ross, S. D., Baumgardner, G. A. & Socha, J. J. (2020). Undulation enables gliding in flying snakes. Nature Physics, 16, 974–982. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-0935-4 Cited in our paradise flying snake article.

Further reading on topics we cover

These papers are not yet cited in a specific SnakeWise article; they are well-known starting points for each topic.

• Movement: Jayne, B. C. (2020). What defines different modes of snake locomotion?. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 60, 156–170. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icaa017
• Movement: Hu, D. L., Nirody, J., Scott, T. & Shelley, M. J. (2009). The mechanics of slithering locomotion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 10081–10085. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0812533106
• Movement: Marvi, H. et al. (2014). Sidewinding with minimal slip: snake and robot ascent of sandy slopes. Science, 346, 224–229. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1255718
• Senses: Schwenk, K. (1994). Why snakes have forked tongues. Science, 263, 1573–1577. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.263.5153.1573
• Diversity: Pyron, R. A., Burbrink, F. T. & Wiens, J. J. (2013). A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 13, 93. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-13-93
• Snakebite: Kasturiratne, A. et al. (2008). The global burden of snakebite: a literature analysis and modelling based on regional estimates of envenoming and deaths. PLoS Medicine, 5, e218. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050218
• Snakebite: Gutiérrez, J. M. et al. (2017). Snakebite envenoming. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 3, 17063. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2017.63

Using these papers in class

Abstracts are free to read on each journal's page via the DOI link; some papers are open access. Our high school lesson idea uses the flying snake studies as evidence for an adaptation explanation.