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.
>>Read Missing man found dead inside 23-foot python
In the past, pythons have gobbled up crocodiles, alligators, snakes and hyenas, National Geographic reported.
Swallowing humans isn’t quite as easy.
>>Read Hunters employed full-time in fight against invasive Florida pythons
"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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