You don’t have to have wings to fly. Some animals such as flying squid, paradise snake, Mobula ray, Malabar frog, Draco lizard… are wingless but can fly like birds.
Flying squid
This species of squid, also known as “Japanese flying squid”, “Pacific flying squid”, or Todarodes pacificus, can fly about 30m above the water surface to avoid predators and save energy when migrating.
This species of flying squid lives in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, including the central coast of Vietnam. They usually live in waters near the sea surface. Their food when they are young is plankton, when they are adults they eat fish and crustaceans, and even cannibalize each other.
Snakes fly to paradise
This snake’s body can be maximally flattened, allowing it to curl as if crawling on the ground while flying. They can fly from tree to tree at a distance of up to 24m. During flight, their tail acts as a balance control to help them fly farther. This strange snake lives in Southeast Asia and South Asia.
Mobula flying stingray
Mobula flying rays have a large body size with a width of up to 5.2m and a weight of up to 1 ton.
During mating season, male stingrays can jump up to 3 meters above the water surface, hover in the air for a few seconds and then fall back to the water to attract a mate.
Flying fish (Exocoetidae) have very large pectoral fins that help them jump to the surface and fly over the water for several meters. This ability helps flying fish escape from predators.
Malabar Flying Frog
Malabar flying frogs can use their webbed feet to form a parachute-like organ to help them fly quickly from treetops to the ground when encountering enemies.
Southern flying squirrel
This flying squirrel has a layer of skin on both sides of its body that extends from the front limbs to the hind limbs so that it can be easily expanded to act as a flexible parachute, allowing the animal to fly distances of more than 9 meters without no need to touch the ground. Meanwhile, its tail is used as a rudder.
Draco flying lizard
This lizard possesses a special set of long ribs that can straighten and contract at will. Between the ribs is a neatly folded and pleated skin along the body that can unfold and act like a pair of wings when needed to help them fly up to 30 feet (9m). Their elongated tail is like a rudder to adjust the direction of flight.
Spider
Even though it doesn’t have wings, spiders can “fly” quite a distance in a very smart way. They will release a thin, light, stretchable silk thread and take advantage of the wind to swing on the silk thread when they need to fly.
