A graphic video of a 23-foot python that swallowed a man whole has people wondering if such a thing is possible.
While human-eating pythons are rare, the feat is not impossible, according to National Geographic.
“When well executed, a python's powerful squeeze could end blood flow to the heart within seconds,” Scott Boback, a vertebrate ecologist, told National Geographic.
Once any prey is dead, pythons can eat it in one bite because of their flexible jaws, the BBC reported.
In the past, pythons have gobbled up crocodiles, alligators, snakes and hyenas, National Geographic reported.
Swallowing humans isn’t quite as easy.
"The restricting factor is human shoulder blades, because they are not collapsible," Mary-Ruth Low, the Singapore Zoo’s python expert, told the BBC.
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