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Specialized Intestinal Cells Let Pythons Fully Absorb Prey Skeletons

This finding explains how pythons manage calcium intake during whole-prey digestion by forming mineral spheroids

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© dwi putra stock via Shutterstock
Burmese pythons evolved to digest bones as a crucial source of calcium.
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Overview

  • Using light and electron microscopy, researchers identified a new narrow enterocyte in Burmese pythons that forms calcium-, phosphorus- and iron-rich spheroids in an internal crypt
  • Spheroid production was triggered only after snakes ate whole prey or boneless prey supplemented with calcium, demonstrating a direct dependence on dietary mineral levels
  • No bone fragments were detected in python feces, confirming that these spheroid-producing cells enable complete digestion and absorption of skeletal material
  • Similar cells have been discovered in other python and boa species and in the Gila monster, indicating a conserved adaptation among bone-eating reptiles
  • Scientists are now exploring whether analogous bone-digesting cells exist in other vertebrates that consume bones, such as sharks and bone-eating birds