Boa constrictors are known for striking their victims and then crushing them to death using their powerful coils. To breathe, the boa constrictor can utilize a specific portion of their ribs.
During a constrictor attack, it will persist in breathing using the lower portion of its noodle-like frame. Similarly, if the rear ribs are now pressing on an immobile animal, the ribcage closest to the animal’s skull will start taking over.
A very energy-intensive activity, constriction almost definitely necessitates a significant level of oxygen consumption. The new study sheds light on some of the misunderstandings surrounding how oxygen absorption happens during this physically demanding procedure.
To breathe, boas have the capacity to regulate which part of their ribcage comes into contact with their lungs. Because enormous prey restricts the mobility of the creatures’ ribcage from within, it is believed that this specialized breathing approach enables boas to withstand the act of ingesting and processing large food.
Snakes are known for their extremely movable heads, which enable them to twist their jaws over large food and devour it in one mouthful. This respiratory strategy is certainly used by other snake types, according to the research authors.
Diaphragms, the enormous roof musculature that flexes and straightens to let a person’s lungs grow and replenish with air, and afterward release and squeeze the lungs to force air away, are not present in snakes, unlike in people. An alternative is the manipulation of the ribcage’s volume by the muscles linked to the ribs, which snakes do anyway.
By installing blood pressure monitors on mature boas in their laboratory, the researchers discovered that boa constrictors utilized this particular respiratory mechanism. The scientists employed a variety of methods to assess the snakes’ lungs for airflow and the electrical impulses of their numerous muscles. Boas’ ribs shift in reaction to the pressure sensor pressing in from all directions, as seen in the latest research.
The findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Biology
