Watch a strange snake “cartwheel” away from danger at more than 12 feet per second

The enigmatic snakes of Southeast Asia have developed a remarkable trick to escape predators: instead of slithering, they arch their long bodies and tumble at high speed.

Dwarf reed snakes (Pseudorabdion) achieve this acrobatic feat by keeping their head in a relatively fixed position while rotating the rest of their body, according to a new study published Monday, October 19, in the journal Current biology.