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Ottawa, August 31, 2026 - An international team led by Canadian researchers has found evidence for why snake embryos form a curious spiral. This ability to coil in the embryo is why snakes are able to hatch with the longest body of all vertebrate animals.
The study, published today in the journal Current Biology, reports that snake embryos coil into a right-handed spiral as their long body grows while being tethered by the gut. “It's like when you adjust the length of a strap and the longer, buckling side of the loop twists,” explains senior author and team leader Dr. Tetsuto Miyashita, evolutionary biologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
“There is a touch of mystery to spirals and we are only beginning to understand how these shapes are produced in animals, such as our looping intestine, snail shells, and now these beautifully coiled snake embryos,” says lead author Alexandra Weber, now a graduate student in zoology at the University of British Columbia.
Adds Miyashita: “These puzzles beckon our curiosity. After all, spiral forms in nature have inspired human creations ranging from rotini pasta, to a barber’s pole or even portrayals of the biblical ‘Tower of Babel’.”
