The pythons grow up to 16 feet in length. They can't explain their huge gape, which is the amount of food the animal can open its mouth to eat.
A new study shows how Burmese pythons have evolved a unique feature that allows them to eat larger prey.
Due to habitat loss humans are to blame for the vulnerability of the wild pythons in their native Southeast Asia.
They are decimating native species and damaging the environment in Florida.
Ian Bartoszek is an environmental scientist for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
The researchers took a closer look at the biology of this massive snake, specifically its ability to eat virtually any creature it encounters.
To help their mouths open even wider, the study found, Burmese pythons evolved a special feature: super-stretchy skin between their lower jaws.
The gape is a factor that determines what snakes can eat.
The lower jaws of snakes are not fused like the lower jaws of humans and other mammals, but they are still elastic and allow their mouths to open wider.
The skin of the lower jaws of pythons is stretchy and elastic, which is different from the standard jaws of snakes.
In pythons, the stretchy skin between the left and right jaws is different. Forty percent of the gape area is stretchy skin.
Their gape is huge even after you correct for their large heads.
The gape of snakes and pythons were compared to see how they compare to one another.
Birds and other small prey are hunted by these small snakes.
By measuring snakes as well as their potential prey, the researchers were able to estimate the largest animals the snakes could eat, along with the relative benefits of eating different prey options.
According to the data, smaller snakes have more to gain from an enlarged gape size. Since baby pythons can exploit a wide range of prey, they have a leg up on other snakes.
Researchers say that larger body size helps snakes stay off the menu for other predatory animals.
It's pretty much just alligator that can eat those pythons once they reach a reasonable size. The pythons eat alligator.
Research shows that pythons can kill their prey by cutting off their blood flow.
While the new research is more about understanding a biological curiosity than figuring out how to control an invading species, it could help scientists anticipate the cascading effects of pythons on wetlands.
It won't help to control them. It can help us understand the effects of invaders. You can place a rough upper limit on what resources the snake could be expected to exploit if you know how big the snakes get and how long it takes.
There was a study published.
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