Researchers at Virginia Tech have dedicated decades of research learning exactly how the Paradise Tree Snake is able to use specific body movements to effortlessly glide between trees in search of food or to avoid predators.
The Socha Lab, named after Virginia Tech researcher Dr. Jake Socha, has focused its attention on unique animal adaptations. This includes to biomechanics of the Paradise Tree Snake, which is the only snake known to have this ability to glide through the air. So far, they have identified several ways in which these reptiles do this:
- They ‘jump’ into the air from a tree branch or other elevated location
- They flatten their bodies by flattening their ribcages
- They undulate their bodies in a wave-like pattern to increase gliding range
Meet the researchers:
Dr. Jake Socha (he/him)
Dr. Jake Socha is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics at Virginia Tech. He studies the biomechanics of movements in animals like the flying snake, which reside in his lab in Blacksburg. He has close ties to Virginia: he went to high school in Virginia Beach, and his first college experience was at Virginia Tech, where he attended Governor’s School for a summer as a high school junior.
Dr. Shaz Zamore (they/them)
Dr. Shaz Zamore is the STEM Outreach Coordinator at the ATLAS Institute of the University of Colorado, Boulder. Their background includes degrees from Cornell and the University of Washington. After earning their Ph.D., Shaz spent three years at Virginia Tech studying the vision of flying snakes. Outside of science, Shaz enjoys cooking, snowboarding, boxing, and car repair.
Talia Weiss (she/her)
Talia Weiss is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics at Virginia Tech. As an undergraduate in college at Caltech, she studied bioengineering, which she now applies to her studies of the amazing abilities that some frogs have to hop on the surface of water. She calls Blacksburg, VA her home.