BBC Wildlife Magazine

Limbless wonder

CONSIDERING THEIR LACK OF LIMBS, snakes have an impressive range of locomotory styles. Apart from the obvious slithering and sliding, they can climb, swim, burrow and some can even glide. And now we can add cartwheeling to the list.

Biologists working in Malaysia observed the unusual behaviour, when danger looms, it forms its body into an upright hoop and bounces away at speed.

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