Snake makes traveling with their mouth full look like a breeze
If you’re wondering how a snake is able to breathe when it's got a hold of something bigger than its mouth, read on:
Inside the floor of the snake's mouth is the glottis, the opening to the windpipe that leads to the lungs. In snakes this opening sits very far forward and can be pushed outward toward the front or side of the mouth, kind of like a snorkel, so even when a big animal is wedged in the throat, the tip of the airway can still reach open air and let them inhale.
They then use their rib movements to pump air into a very long lung, shifting which ribs they use when parts of the body are pinned by the meal. Together, the extendable glottis “tube” and flexible rib‑driven breathing let them swallow (or in this case move it somewhere safe before swallowing) things much bigger than their mouth without suffocating.
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