I've always wonder how snakes manage to eat and digest a whole organism. I been especially interested in how they manage to digest a whole skeleton and absorb enough calcium to maintain their own skeletons.
Some new research seems to be beginning to shed some light on the "hows" of this process.
Apparently, a specialized cell type, found within the small intestine and shaped like a golf tee, is responsible for degrading the bone.
Read more about the research at these sites:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0402103014.htm
http://www.livescience.com/animalwor...ne_eaters.html
I post more here later if I found out any other details.
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