Little snake eats big elephant

Author: Wang Yu / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: On October 21, 1982, in the New Territories of Hong Kong, China, a python entered a cow pen and swallowed a calf that had only been born four days and weighed about 12 kilograms. The python's belly swelled with the shape of the calf, and its stomach was torn by the calf's legs, leaving only its head and tail able to move. When the police discovered the python, they called in a snake expert who used cold water to douse the python's body, forcing it to regurgitate the calf.
Why can snakes swallow animals much larger than themselves? The reason is that snakes have a special anatomy. A human's mouth can only open to a maximum of 30 degrees, but a snake's mouth can open to 130 degrees or even 180 degrees. The reason for this is that the bones in our mouths are connected by "mortises," whereas snakes use ligaments to connect their jaws. Here, let's conduct an experiment: When people cook rice, they use tongs that are joined by mortises, making it difficult for the tongs to open wide. However, if the tongs are split into two parts and elastic bands are tied in place of the mortises, they can open and close freely. The same principle applies to why a snake's mouth can open so wide.
Moreover, before swallowing large prey, snakes have already "processed" it: as they coil around their victim, they tighten their coils, suffocating the prey to death. Then, they squeeze the prey into a long, slender shape, making it easier to swallow. If a snake catches a bird with wings spread like two open folding fans, how does it swallow it? When small vipers swallow larger birds, they usually start by swallowing the bird's head. To prevent the bird from slipping out, the vipers' two rows of teeth on the left and right alternate in a series of slow movements: the left teeth remain completely still, firmly gripping the bird, while the right teeth slowly move forward, pulling the prey toward the mouth. Then, the right teeth hook onto the food, and the left teeth move forward. In this way, the vipers slowly swallow the bird, and the bird's spread wings can only retract in one direction, not spreading out on both sides.
When snakes swallow large animals, does their trachea get blocked? No. Because the opening of their larynx is at the front of the oral cavity, which is also the opening of the trachea. When snakes swallow prey, their movable larynx extends outside the mouth, so they don't have to worry about their trachea getting blocked while swallowing large animals. P3