Tag Archives: bones

How Burmese pythons are able to to swallow and digest prey as large as cattle, bones as well, has long mystified scientists – until now…

How Burmese pythons are able to to swallow and digest prey as large as cattle, bones as well, has long mystified scientists – until now…

Burmese pythons can grow up to 19 feet (almost six metres) in length. Such a big body requires big meals. They eat prey as large as cattle – and they eat them whole. No tearing into bite-size chunks, no chewing. Everything goes down all at once, bones and all. Snakes that are fed a boneless diet suffer from calcium deficiency, so digesting skeletons is important for their health. But how they avoid absorbing …

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