Rectilinear locomotion

In particular, it is associated with heavy-bodied species such as terrestrial African adders, pythons and boas; however, most snakes are capable of it.

[1] It is one of at least five forms of locomotion used by snakes, the others being lateral undulation, sidewinding, concertina movement, and slide-pushing.

[2] First, the costocutaneous superior lifts a section of the snake's belly from the ground[6] and places it ahead of its former position.

Then the costocutaneous inferior pulls backwards while the belly scales are on the ground, propelling the snake forwards.

[5] This method of locomotion is extremely slow (between 0.01–0.06 m/s (0.033–0.197 ft/s)), but is also almost noiseless and very hard to detect, making it the mode of choice for many species when stalking prey.