Burmese pythons completely digest prey, including skeletons. Here's how
Scientists have discovered a new type of cell that helps Burmese pythons digest the skeletons of their prey, according to the Journal of Experimental Biology.
You heard correctly, after a python swallows its meal — which can be as large as a whole deer — researchers have found why no bone fragments emerged, um, from either end. It all has to do with a newly discovered bone-digesting cell in the snakes' intestines.
Where do Burmese pythons live?
Originally from Southeast Asia, the Burmese python was introduced to southern Florida either through accidental escape or intentional release of captive animals.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has removed more than 20 tons — 40,000 pounds — of Burmese pythons in Southwest Florida since 2013.
The team uses 40 "scout snakes" to locate reproductive pythons during the breeding season, November through April, across a 200-square-mile area of public and private land from Naples through the Western Everglades.
"Biologists target adult female pythons, attempting to suppress python reproduction. Since 2013, the team has stopped an additional 20,000 python eggs from hatching," the Conservancy of Southwest Florida said.
What do Burmese pythons eat?
Pythons can consume meals over 100% of their body mass, feeding on a diet that includes more than 85 species, including deer, bobcats, foxes, rabbits, birds, various reptiles and other native wildlife.
Special cells allow Burmese pythons to absorb skeletons of their prey
Scientists have discovered a 'previously unknown cell type' in the walls of pythons' intestines that completely dissolves skeletons, according to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
Professor Jehan-Hervé Lignot of the University of Montpellier in France is credited with the discovery, using captive juvenile pythons as his test subjects and subjecting the snakes with three different types of diet: a normal diet with entire rodents; a low-calcium diet using rodents with no bones; and a calcium-rich diet using boneless rodents and calcium carbonate supplements.
Looking at the specialized cells in the snakes' intestines revealed "Burmese pythons possess a specialised intestinal cell type involved in excreting excess dissolved calcium and phosphorus that originate from the prey and are precipitated as particles that must accumulate in the faeces."
Snakes fed boneless prey suffer from calcium deficiencies, but too much calcium isn't good, either, and absorbing the calcium from an entire skeleton could put too much calcium into the snakes' bloodstream.
'We wanted to identify how they were able to process and limit this huge absorption of calcium through the intestinal wall,' Lignot told EurekaAlert, a nonprofit news-release distribution platform operated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Burmese pythons aren't alone when it comes to the specialized cells. They've also been identified in other pythons, boa constrictors and the venomous Gila monster."
Largest pythons documented in Florida
Burmese pythons, classified as one of the largest snakes in the world, are an invasive specifies in Florida and are found primarily in and around the Everglades, where the snake represents a threat to native wildlife, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida said its scientists were recognized for capturing the largest female python ever documented to date, measuring 18 feet long and weighing 215 pounds, as well as the largest male python on record at 16 feet and 140 pounds.
Pythons may not be venomous but their bite hurts
According to the Florida Museum website, small individual pythons are not generally dangerous to people or pets.
Large Burmese pythons have large, sharp teeth, and their bites can cause severe lacerations.
➤ Florida python hunter describes python bite: 'Like a mouthful of hypodermic needles'
"They are like a mouthful of hyperdermic needles," is how the python hunter Amy Siewe described a bite from a python.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Burmese pythons digest entire skeletons with bone-digesting cell
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