What type of locomotion is sidewinding?
Q: What type of locomotion is sidewinding?
A: Sidewinding is a type of locomotion unique to some snakes.
Q: What animals use sidewinding?
A: Sidewinding is often used by the Saharan horned viper, Cerastes cerastes, and the sidewinder rattlesnake, Crotalus cerastes, to move across loose desert sands. It is also used by some snakes in Southeast Asia to move across tidal mud flats. Other snakes can be induced to sidewind on artificial smooth surfaces, with various degrees of success.
Q: How does sidewinding work?
A: Sidewinding works by lifting all the segments with the same slope off the ground and throwing the head forward while the body follows behind it in static contact with the ground. This creates a series of mostly straight J-shaped tracks that are almost exactly as long as the snake itself.
Q: Are there any other ways for snakes to move on sand?
A: Yes, there are other ways for snakes to move on sand besides sidewinding.
Q: Do tracks left behind from sidewinding show smearing?
A: No, because each track is made with static contact points between the snake's belly scales and the ground there will be no smearing in tracks left behind from sidewinding.
Q: Is there evidence that suggests that hot sand affects how well a snake can perform sidewinding?
A: No, contrary to popular belief there is no evidence that suggests hot sand affects how well a snake can perform sidewinding.
Q: What kind of caloric cost does this mode of locomotion have compared to lizards or other snakes moving over similar distances?
A:Sidewinding has very low caloric cost compared to lizards or other snakes moving over similar distances; it uses less than ⅓ of their energy expenditure for movement over similar distances.
