10 Recently Discovered Awesome Animal Abilities
Anyone who’s had a pet dog, cat, or other animal is well aware of their amazing abilities. A dog can smell scents and odors imperceptible to people, and a cat’s fantastic balance and nimble coordination are greater than those of the most gifted acrobat or gymnast. Animals that aren’t usually kept as pets also exhibit incredible powers, such as hibernation, using sonar to navigate, walking on water, and delivering powerful electrical shocks to prey or threatening predators. These astonishing powers aren’t the only ones animals possess, though, as the 10 recently discovered awesome animal abilities on this list clearly attest.
Download 4.52 MB
Researchers have discovered that brown tree snakes in Guam can twist themselves into lassos to climb trees and poles.
The snakes, which it s thought were introduced to the US territory more than 70 years from the New Guinea islands during World War Two, have decimated native bird species.
To save the remaining birdlife, the researchers placed nests on top of smooth poles they were sure no snake could climb.
But when watching a video that had been set up to monitor the snake s activity, they discovered that it could use its body like a lasso and wiggle its body up the pole.
Snakes tie themselves in knots to climb up slippery poles after endangered prey
The invasive brown tree snake slithered like no-one had ever seen before, using a technique researchers called lasso locomotion
Social Sharing
CBC Radio ·
Posted: Jan 15, 2021 4:13 PM ET | Last Updated: January 15
Scientists observed the brown tree snake using a never-before-seen climbing technique they call lasso locomotion (Bjorn Lardner, USGS)
Smart new snakey moves
Brown tree snakes (
Boiga irregularis) appear to have evolved a whole new way of moving that could help explain how they have decimated bird populations in the Mariana Island of Guam, according to a new paper published in the journal
Current Biology.
They use a lasso-like motion to propel themselves up smooth vertical cylinders, which the researchers say is distinctively different to the other four known forms of snake locomotion: rectilinear, lateral undulation (or serpentine), sidewinding and concertina.
The nocturnal snakes, which are part of the colubrid family (Colubridae), are native to north-eastern Australia and other humid tropical areas such as Papua New Guinea. They were accidently introduced to Guam, about 2000 kilometres north of PNG, around mid last century, probably as stowaway on a cargo vessel or aircraft.