BLACK BOA CONSTRICTOR SERIES

Ultimately, 'We found multiple lines of evidence in support of our hypothesis that boa constrictors actively modulate the trunk segments and ribs used for lung ventilation, in response to hindered rib motions,' the authors wrote. He found that there were no nerve signals in the constricted muscle at all rather, the snake had activated a different set of ribs further down the body length to continue breathing.

Finally, Boback serendipitously managed to capture one snake mid-meal using a GoPro camera. This was done by recording the nerve signals that controlled the rib muscles as pressure was being applied with the cuffs on one adult female boa and one adult male boa, using a technique called electromyography. Whenever the ribs closest to the head are obstructed, the lungs essentially serve as a bellows to pull in air so the snake can still breathe.Ĭapano's coauthors at Dickinson College, Scott Boback and Charles Zwemer, took on the task of determining whether the snakes were capable of specific patterns of muscle activation. Boa constrictors, they discovered, have a remarkable ability to selectively use different sections of their rib cage for breathing during constriction.

BLACK BOA CONSTRICTOR SERIES

They rely entirely on the motion of their ribs to breathe.īiologists at Brown University and Dickinson College conducted a series of experiments to find out more, and they described their results in a new paper published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Regardless of what's on the menu, how do the snakes manage to breathe as they crush an animal to death, since that constriction also uncomfortably squeezes the boas' own ribs? Unlike mammals (including humans), boa constrictors don’t have a separate diaphragm.

They have also been known to chow down on even larger prey, including monkeys, wild pigs, and ocelots. Ars is owned by WIRED's parent company, Condé Nast.īoa constrictors mostly consume various medium-size rodents, lizards, and birds. This story originally appeared on Ars Technica, a trusted source for technology news, tech policy analysis, reviews, and more.

Black boa constrictor