Some tiger pythons may be able to swallow larger prey than previously thought. A team of researchers in the specialist journal Reptiles & Amphibians reports that the largest specimen's mouth opened wider than previously assumed based on mathematical models.
Tiger pythons can swallow larger animals than previously thought.Image: shutterstock.com
They may be able to swallow a deer weighing nearly 60 kilograms or an entire crocodile weighing up to 95 kilograms.
Tiger pythons kill their prey with tremendous force, entangling and suffocating their prey before devouring it. Pictures and videos repeatedly show black tiger pythons eating incredibly large animals such as deer or crocodiles. Pythons have extremely flexible jaw joints: the mandibles are connected only by elastic ligaments so that they can move apart from each other when swallowing.
Open your mouth for science
A research team led by Bruce Jayne of the University of Cincinnati has now measured three 4.5- to 5.8-meter-long animals of the species captured in and around Everglades National Park in the United States. Researchers report that the mouths of the largest snakes can open up to 26 centimeters wide. Previously, the maximum recorded was 22 centimeters.
It doesn't sound like a big difference, but the opening of the entire mouth is 40% wider. Researchers speculate that the largest representative of the species had a mouth diameter of about 30 centimeters.
The researchers observed the smallest of the three specimens examined devouring a 35-kilogram white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) – two-thirds of the snake's body weight. One researcher involved in the study said observing something like this was unforgettable.
Impact on animals in the area
Knowing the likely size of prey helps researchers predict the ecological impact of a snake species that is spreading invasively across the United States. It still needs clarification that large snakes often attack and kill large prey, but then do not eat them because they are too large to swallow.
The python, whose technical name is Python bivittatus, is one of the largest snakes in the world, rarely exceeding six meters in length. The species is actually native to the rainforests of Southeast Asia and has spread greatly through abandoned animals raised privately in the Florida Everglades.
On the verge of extinction in Asia, becoming a terrible plague in the United States
According to official estimates, hundreds of thousands of pythons now live there, threatening the local fauna. Hunters receive cash rewards for killing animals. However, things are not good for the snakes in their original home. Therefore, the species is listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Pythons can weigh up to 100 kilograms. Females become sexually mature at three years old and can lay up to 100 eggs per year for 20 years or more. Depending on the size of the snake, it may take several hours for the snake to swallow its prey. They can feed on large prey for weeks to months without starving. (DAB/Sudan Development Authority/Department of Political Affairs)
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