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Why can a snake swallow such a big thing when its body is so small

When I was a child, I was afraid to see snakes. But when I watched TV, a snake could eat a lot of things, and even a big one could eat. Why?

Snake is the general name of the footless reptiles, belonging to the Reptilia Lepidoptera snake suborder. Like all reptiles, snakes are covered with scales. All snakes are carnivorous. The snake ranks sixth in the Chinese zodiac. Why can a snake swallow something several times its own size?

Why can a snake swallow something several times its own size

1. Snakes have no chewing function and can only be swallowed. Its jaw joint is more special, unlike our jaw joint, the upper and lower jaws are connected together. The snake's upper and lower jaws are connected by ligaments, so the upper and lower jaws can be separated when swallowing prey, allowing prey thicker than itself to pass through the throat smoothly. And the skin of the neck also has a lot of elasticity

2. The snake's digestive system is very powerful. Some of them begin to digest at the same time as they swallow them. They also spit out the bones. The snake's digestion also depends on crawling on the ground, using its belly and uneven ground to rub. The venom of poisonous snakes is actually the digestive juice of snakes. Some carnivorous snake digestive juices have strong digestive capacity and dissolve the body of the bitten animals, so they show 'toxicity'. Human bile also belongs to this kind of digestive juice. Snakes have a strong appetite and a large amount of food. They usually bite to death first and then swallow. The mouth can change with the size of the food. When meeting larger food, the jaw shortens and widens and becomes a membrane tightly surrounding the food. Snakes usually start from the head of the animal, while swallowing birds starts from the top of the head. In this way, the beak of the bird bends to the bird's neck, so that the snake's mouth or esophagus will not be hurt. The speed of swallowing is related to the size of the food. Mice can swallow people in 5-6 minutes, while larger birds need 15-18 minutes.

Snakes hunt mainly by mouth. Non poisonous snakes usually bite their prey with sharp teeth on their upper and lower jaws, and then quickly use their bodies to strangle or crush the live prey to death or swallow them again. Snakes also rely on their fangs to inject a strong venom, causing the prey to die of poisoning immediately after being bitten. When swallowing, the snake first opens its mouth, holds the animal's head into the mouth, blocks the animal's body with its teeth, and then swallows it slowly by means of its mandible. When one side of the mandible rotates backward, the teeth on the same side hook food and send it further to the pharynx, and then the other side of the mandible rotates backward, and the same side teeth send food further to the pharynx. In this way, due to the constant interaction of the mandible, even large food can be swallowed.