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Invasive Carnivore Plaguing Florida Can Completely Absorb Skeletons, Study Says
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, JUL 11 – Researchers discovered a unique intestinal cell in Burmese pythons that dissolves bones completely, enabling efficient nutrient absorption and preventing bone fragments in feces, study shows.
- Researchers led by Professor Jehan-Hervé Lignot discovered a previously unknown intestinal cell in Burmese pythons that dissolves skeletons, reported June 25, 2024.
- This discovery followed long-standing mystery about how pythons digest bones, clarified by feeding trials with whole rodents, boneless rodents, and calcium-injected rodents.
- The new bone-digesting cell produces large calcium, phosphorus, and iron particles inside narrow intestinal enterocytes, and no bone fragments appear in python feces after digestion.
- Lignot noted that these cells are distinct from typical enterocytes due to their narrow shape, reduced microvilli length, and the presence of an apical invagination creating a crypt-like structure, which suggests a role in specialized bone digestion.
- The finding helps explain why invasive Burmese pythons in Florida, capable of growing up to 18 feet and preying on large native animals, efficiently absorb skeletons and survive without natural enemies.
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“Bone-Digesting” – Scientists Discover Unusual New Type of Cell
Researchers have discovered a new type of intestinal cell in pythons that helps them completely digest bones. Scientists studying Burmese pythons have identified a previously unknown type of intestinal cell that plays a key role in breaking down and absorbing the bones of their prey. While most carnivores tend to eat only soft tissue and [...]
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Leaning Left6Leaning Right2Center34Last UpdatedBias Distribution81% Center
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