Found in Southeast and South Asia, five Chrysopelea snake species have been observed twisting their ribs and flattening their bodies in midair, but this doesn't fully explain how the reptiles control their descent.

"Other snakes flatten their bodies as well," said Jake Socha, a biologist at Virginia Tech. For example, king cobras can flatten their hoods for defensive purposes.

To find out what else enables the snakes to glide, Socha and his colleagues used four cameras to record four flying snakes as they leaped off a five-story tower to another, smaller tower several dozen yards away.

The team then used the images to create 3-D computer models of the reptiles' body positions during flight. (See snake pictures.)

The images and