As a long and wiry scrub python slithers its way from branch to branch on a tree, it can effortlessly lift itself upright to climb onto a higher perch. But how does it do it? With no arms and legs to hold itself up, how does it not topple over? It controls only the part that matters.
Instead of exerting a huge effort to stiffen their entire body to stand upright, tree-climbing snakes may concentrate their bending energy and muscle activity within a small region at their base, researchers report February 25 in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. The team’s mathematical analysis suggests that pairing such a