Burmese pythons are enormous snakes that may reach lengths of over 18 feet and weigh 200 pounds. They are also large eaters, capable of taking on prey as big as
Biologists at the University of Cincinnati found that it’s not just the size of a python's head and body that puts almost everything on a python’s menu. They evolved super-stretchy skin between their lower jaws that allows them to consume prey up to six times larger than similar-sized snakes.
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Biologist Bruce Jayne and researchers at Colorado State University call the previously unknown method lasso locomotion because of the lasso-like way brown tree snakes can wrap their bodies around objects like poles and trees to climb. It is a really bizarre way of moving that allows snakes to climb really big cylindrical surfaces, Jayne says with a slight laugh. The find is particularly exciting since Jayne says these snakes have been widely studied for years and yet this new way of climbing hadn t been observed until now.
The study is published in the journal
Why This Is Important
The climbing behavior was observed in brown tree snakes in Guam. This species of snake is native to Australia and Indonesia, and is considered a highly invasive species in Guam. It s believed to have been introduced to the island in the late 1940s or early 1950s, likely on shipping vessels traveling around at the end of or just after World War II, Jayne says.