How Snakes Move: The Surprising Mechanics Behind More Than Just Slithering

That memorable moment in a popular book and film where a boa constrictor glides smoothly out of its enclosure looks like magic, but snake locomotion is purely mechanical. Snakes propel themselves by coordinating hundreds—sometimes many hundreds—of muscles attached to the vertebrae, ribs and skin, says Jessica Tingle, a biologist and assistant professor in Brown University’s Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology. In short, when a snake moves it’s a full-body effort.

The skin is as important as the muscles. "Most snakes have tiny, nearly invisible, finger-like projections on the scales along their belly," Tingle explains. These microstructures provide just enough friction to push forward without slipping backward or sideways.

Major locomotor modes

Although the classic S-shaped slither—known as lateral undulation—is the image most people have of snakes in motion, it is only one of several distinct strategies. Biologists recognize multiple gaits and behaviors that snakes use depending on terrain and purpose:

• Lateral undulation (side-to-side waves): Used by virtually all snake species; effective on many surfaces and often combined with vertical undulation (lifting and lowering parts of the body) on rough ground.
• Concertina: The body bunches and extends like an accordion; ideal for moving through tight tunnels, climbing trunks, or inching along narrow branches.
• Rectilinear motion: The spine stays nearly straight while belly scales and muscles push the animal forward in a smooth, linear glide—useful in cramped spaces.
• Sidewinding: Sections of the body are lifted and placed down in sequence to move across slippery or shifting substrates; some sidewinders are remarkably fast.

Unusual and spectacular moves

Some species show extraordinary adaptations. Members of the genus Chrysopelea, often called "flying snakes," flatten their bodies and undulate in mid-air to glide between trees. On Guam, the invasive Brown Tree Snake uses a method called "lasso locomotion" to climb smooth poles: it loops part of its body around the pole, anchors the loop, and advances by producing small lateral bends inside that loop—an ability that helped it access bird nests and contributed to local extinctions.

Two Southeast Asian species, Xenophidion schaeferi and Pseudorabdion longiceps, have even been observed cartwheeling—rolling along like a wheel—possibly to startle or confuse predators.

Speed and striking

Snakes don’t just move efficiently; they can be astonishingly fast in short bursts. Some sidewinding species such as the sidewinder rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes) and Peringuey’s adder (Bitis peringueyi) have been recorded at speeds up to about 18 miles per hour. Predatory strikes are faster still: a 2016 study measured strikes in rattlesnakes and other species at roughly 48–84 milliseconds—quicker than a human blink (about 200 ms) and often faster than prey reaction times.

Inspiration for robotics and materials

Engineers have borrowed snake locomotion principles to build snake-like robots intended for search-and-rescue and exploration in environments where wheeled or legged machines struggle. For example, a robotic system developed at ETH Zürich can slither through confined, debris-filled spaces to help locate survivors of collapsed buildings. While these robots show promise, they still lag behind living snakes in adaptability and efficiency. Studying snake biomechanics could improve robotic control, and the unique properties of snake skin may inspire new materials with multifunctional surface designs.

Evolution has given snakes a versatile toolkit for movement—many of their strategies remain poorly studied across the roughly 4,000 species worldwide, so researchers expect to discover even more remarkable behaviors as field observations and experiments continue.