Flying snakes
The snake Chrysopelea paradisi, lives in Southeast Asia and glides between tree branches. [Read: Flying Snake Morphs Into UFO Shape to Glide]
High flyers
The snake's gliding abilities are no match for a bird's, but they compare pretty well to those of flying squirrels, ants and lizards.
Mystery maneuver
To get airborne, the snakes grasp a tree branch with their tail, then launch upwards.
Shape changes
They also seem to curl up and splay their ribs out to flatten their bodies, while undulating in the air.
In Paradise
A flying paradise tree snake, Chrysopelea paradisi.
UFO Shape
Looked at in cross section, their flattened bodies resemble UFOs or rounded triangles, a shape that isn't typically found in engineered or natural flying objects.
Aerodynamic properties
To see why the snakes flattened out, researchers at Virginia Tech made a 3-D model of the snake and put it into a flow chamber. The shape was surprisingly aerodynamic.
Next question
Now, the researchers need to find out why the snake undulates as it glides.