Having recently finished a particularly fascinating chapter of The Wave Watcher’s Companion by Gavin Pretor-Pinney, I have learned about some fascinating facts at the intersection of biology and physics (especially the wavy phenomena so prominent in modern physics). Particularly, the chapter address the methods of locomotion of snakes and worms, which strikes me as fascinating due to the lack of any notable appendages.
The author made the most striking relationship between the these methods of movement and the general types of waves (traverse and longitudinal). The undulating of a snakes body reveals a strikingly unintuitive movement that snakes use to propel themselves forward. Despite the fact that snakes bodies seem to only move in the vertical direction (looking from the top down).
The diagram above (courtesy of the Brisbane Snake catchers) shows the various movements that our serpentine friends use to move about their environment. The fact that there is a divergence in the method of movement for snakes that occupy different environments provides virtually endless fodder for thinking about the role that friction plays in the propulsion of these otherwise slippery creatures. This idea is further complicated by the fact that snakes can be adept at climbing and even swimming through water with remarkable speed. Perhaps an investigation of the dynamics of serpentine movement in a liquid medium can reveal some interesting ideas about procession through hydrodynamic media.
In fact, the specific morphological differences between sea snakes and their land-borne brothers are specifically conducive to movement through water. One of the most distinctive characteristics of this class of snakes is the paddle-like tail that helps them move through the water more efficiently due to the increased surface area. Additionally, it is interesting to note that these water-borne reptiles are nearly helpless on land due to the lateral compression of their bodies and smaller ventral scales. However, despite these differences of body shape and scale type, the general movement of the snakes remains the same.