You’d need to be a better acrobat than me to leave a predator by cartwheeling.
But the dwarf reed snake’s got the method down, according to a group of Malaysian and American researchers. The group’s paper, released recently in the journal Biotropica, lays out the gymnastic habits.
“This rolling motion is a rare escape mechanism which has not been formally documented in detail for any other species of snake or reptile,” the paper says.
“Formally” is the personnel word. Videos like the one listed below reveal the small reptile — endemic to Malaysia, southern Thailand, Singapore, and surrounding islands — carrying out the motion.
(Yes, the snakes are really little; don’t let the video’s title art fool you.)
According to Science.org, the group initially found a cartwheeling dwarf reed snake by mishap in 2019. Climbing a roadway that leads up one Malaysian mountain, they approached the snake, which quickly curled itself into an upright loop and began rolling downhill. The scientists then captured it and put it on flat ground, where it duplicated the habits.
They believe the method assists the snakes — which are nighttime, and typically reclusive — run away quicker from risk, the outlet said. It’s likewise possible the balancings puzzle the snakes’ predators, and scattered scent routes by reducing physical contact with the ground.
The group believes the habits might show a more comprehensive habits pattern amongst snakes.
“We believe that this behavior may be more widespread in other small snake species, especially members of the subfamily Calamariinae, but the lack of records is probably an artifact of the challenges in detecting and observing these secretive species,” the scientists informed sci.news.
