Pythons transplant special cells to digest the entire skeleton

Most predators leave bones behind when eating, but Burmese pythons swallow the whole of their prey – bones, etc. Now, scientists have discovered how these giant snakes accomplished this feat: They evolved specialized intestinal cells that trap excessive calcium and phosphorus from dissolved bones, preventing potential deadly mineral overloads.

The discovery, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, reveals a previously unknown cell type that functions like a microscopic waste management center. These cells produce calcium-rich particles and store them in internal crypts, which are then excreted as waste.

Key Challenges

“We wanted to determine how they could handle and limit the enormous absorption of calcium,” explained Dr. Jehan-Hervé Lignot, a professor at the University of Montpellier who led the study.

As Python digests the entire bone, a lot of calcium and phosphorus floods its intestines. Excessive calcium in the blood can prove fatal, but snakes feeding boneless prey develop calcium deficiency. The research team wonders: How can pythons extract what while avoiding toxic overload?

Using light and electron microscopy, scientists analyzed Python enterocytes after feeding snakes three different diets: whole rodents, “boneless prey” and boneless rodents injected with calcium carbonate supplements.

Micromineral plants

Analysis reveals extraordinary cellular structure. Unlike typical enterocytes that absorb nutrients, these specialized cells are narrowly narrow and have internal folds to form an invisible, which is actually a storage chamber.

“Morological analysis of Python’s epithelium reveals specific particles I’ve never seen in other vertebrates,” Lignot noted. These particles, composed of calcium, phosphorus and iron, accumulate in cellular crypts such as mineral deposition.

Dynamic responses of cells to diet:

• Fasting Snake: The basement is empty
• Boneless prey diet: There is no particle form, only iron
• Whole Rodent or Calcium Supplement Diet: Crypts are filled with large mineral particles
• Repeated low calcium feeding: blood calcium decreases, hormone levels peak

Crucially, the researchers found no bone fragments in Python feces, confirming complete bone dissolution. Specialized cells capture dissolved minerals and package them to eliminate them instead of allowing dangerous minerals to accumulate in the blood.

Evolutionary meaning

The team identified these bone-processing cells in a variety of python and BOA species, as well as the Gillar Monster (a venomous lizard from the southwestern United States). This suggests that cell adaptive evolution independently or represents ancient vertebrate mechanisms.

This finding raises interesting questions about other total predators. “Marine predators who eat bone fish or aquatic mammals must face the same problem,” Konoha observes. “Most bone-eating birds, such as bearded vultures, can also be fascinating candidates.”

Blood analysis showed that Python fed a low-calcium diet showed elevated levels of parathyroid hormone and calcitonin, the same hormones that regulate human calcium metabolism. This suggests that cellular mechanisms are integrated with the broader physiological system.

Waste management in nature

These findings illuminate how evolution solves complex physiological challenges. Rather than simply avoiding bones like most predators, Pythons develop cellular machinery to safely process bone materials, converting potential toxins into manageable waste.

The study presented at the annual meeting of experimental biology opens new avenues to understand mineral metabolism in various species. Python’s solution – capturing and concentrating cells that overexcess minerals – represents a unique biological innovation that may be more extensive than previously thought.

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