It\u2019s all very well squeezing the living breath out of your victims before swallowing them whole, but how does a boa or python avoid asphyxiating itself in the process?<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, the deepest sections of their long, thin lungs, though not good at absorbing oxygen, work like bellows to pull air through the constricted regions.<\/p>\n
This ability to control ribs independently is so essential to boas that it might have been in place before constriction could evolve as a predatory strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could have been in response to the ability to breathe in confined spaces,\u201d says John Capano of Brown University<\/a>, USA, who led the research. \u201cOr it could have evolved from fine rib control in snakes, that could have arisen to help them move with more control.\u201d<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
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