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In the global battle between pythons and crocodiles, fear snakes. A new series of scary photos shows an olive python (Liasis olivaceus) descending an Australian freshwater crocodile (Crocodylus johnstoni).
The photos are courtesy of GG Wildlife Rescue Inc., a non-profit organization based in Australia, which shared them on its Facebook page on May 31st. The images were taken near Mount Isa, Queensland, by kayaker Martin Muller.
Pythons are known for their food ambition. The big snakes were found with the remains of everything – from the deer bigger than themselves and from the impalas to the spiny pigs – in their belly. These snakes eat each other happily, as was observed in May in Western Australia. On very rare occasions, some python species will even attack and eat humans.
Pythons are also known to fight crocodiles and alligators. In 2005, in an infamous case, a Burmese python in the Everglades National Park in Florida was found bursting and died with an American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) coming out of his gut. Pythons from Burma (Bivitatus in python), which can reach 18.8 feet (5.74 meters) long, is an invasive species in Florida.
The olive python, on the other hand, is native to Australia and is found there only. This species can grow up to 4 meters long. Clashes with Australian "freshies" (the local nickname for freshwater crocodiles) are common. In 2014, an olive python was recorded on video, killing and eating a freshwater crocodile at Lake Moondarra, near Mount Isa. In this case, it took the snake five hours to slowly extend its jaw around the strangulated hook.
Pythons are capable of incredible prowess to swallow thanks to their elastic jaws. The lower jaws of the serpents are divided into two parts, connected by an elastic ligament, which allows the bones to separate. When a python has a prey submissive animal, the snake first "walks", a process called pterygoid walking. Then, the snake uses its jaw to suspend itself to the prey while compressing its muscles and crawling around the submissive animal until the meal is engulfed.
Pythons also have a number of genetic adaptations that help them digest huge meals at the same time. A study published in 2013 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that Burmese pythons rapidly changed their metabolism after their meal and even increased the size of their internal organs (intestines, pancreas, heart and kidneys) to cope to the influx of calories.
Originally published on Live Science.
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