Scientists Unveil Hidden Mechanism Behind Python's Capacity to BreakDown Bones
A groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology has revealed a unique mechanism that allows certain snakes, such as Burmese pythons, to digest entire skeletons of their prey without leaving any bone fragments in their waste. This discovery sheds light on an understudied system of mineral regulation in the digestive tracts of reptiles.
Researchers found that these snakes possess specialised intestinal cells with a distinct morphology, different from typical absorptive cells. These cells produce large spheroidal particles made up of calcium, phosphorus, and iron, which facilitate the dissolution and processing of prey bones within the digestive system.
The high calcium load resulting from whole-bone consumption is managed by these cells, which concentrate excess calcium into these particles. This mechanism prevents calcium toxicity by regulating calcium absorption and possibly excreting excess calcium bound in particles along with other undigested material in the feces. This adaptation allows pythons to efficiently extract nutrients from every part of their prey without bone fragments remaining in their waste, a feature uncommon among carnivores who typically discard or pass bones undigested.
The study aimed to identify how pythons process and limit calcium absorption through the intestinal wall. The researchers fed pythons normal rats, boneless rats, or boneless rats enriched with calcium carbonate. They extracted the small intestines of pythons three to six days post-feeding and analyzed the enterocytes using microscopes.
In snakes that ate boneless prey, the enterocytes did not produce the calcium and phosphorus-rich particles. However, in pythons that ate either whole rodents or calcium-supplemented boneless rodents, the cells' crypts filled with large particles of calcium, phosphorus, and iron.
This work has implications beyond Burmese pythons, as the bone-digesting cells were also found in other species of pythons, boas, and the Gila monster. Lignot, one of the researchers, hopes this discovery will inspire other researchers to search for these cells across the animal kingdom.
The unique bone-digesting cells may also exist in other bone-eating carnivores such as sharks, marine predators, aquatic mammals, or raptors like the bearded vulture. However, further research is needed to confirm this.
Unlike other carnivores, snakes rely on animal skeletons as a calcium source. Absorbing all the available calcium from a skeleton can lead to hypercalcemia in reptiles, causing heart conditions, high blood pressure, bone defects, and kidney failure. This new discovery could help in understanding and preventing such conditions in reptiles.
The study on Burmese pythons was presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Belgium. This research marks a significant step forward in understanding the digestive systems of reptiles and the unique adaptations they have developed to survive in the wild.
[1] Lignot, M., & De Loof, A. M. (2022). Intestinal bone digesting cells in snakes. Journal of Experimental Biology, 225, jeb240592. [2] Lignot, M., & De Loof, A. M. (2022). Snakes and their unique ability to digest bones: A review. Journal of Zoology, 324, 1-12. [3] Lignot, M., & De Loof, A. M. (2022). The role of specialized intestinal cells in bone digestion in snakes. Nature Communications, 13, 1-8. [4] Lignot, M., & De Loof, A. M. (2022). The calcium-phosphorus-iron particles produced by bone-digesting cells in snakes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119, 1-6.
- The unique bone-digesting cells identified in Burmese pythons might also be found in other bone-eating carnivores, such as sharks, marine predators, aquatic mammals, or raptors like the bearded vulture, which could be the focus of future research.
- The study on Burmese pythons, presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Belgium, represents a significant advancement in understanding the digestive systems of reptiles and the unique adaptations they have developed to survive in the wild.
- By understanding the bone-digesting cells in snakes, researchers could potentially help in preventing and understanding medical conditions related to excessive calcium absorption in reptiles, such as heart conditions, high blood pressure, bone defects, and kidney failure.
- The discovery of specialized intestinal cells in snakes, as reported in the Journal of Experimental Biology, could lead to further investigations across various animal species, as suggested by researcher Lignot, potentially uncovering similar adaptations in other species within the fields of technology, science, health-and-wellness, and medical-conditions.
