Are the intestines of large snakes coiled up like human intestines, or do they run straight down the body?
There is nothing embarrassing or nasty about the human body except for the intestines and bits of the bottom.
That’s a wonderful sentiment, Ham, I appluad your mature response to such an issue. However, it didn’t really answer the OP.
It’s a quote from Monty Python. Get it? Python? Intestines? The title of the thread? Sorry it wasn’t a “mature” enough joke. I’ll try never to joke in GQ again.
The organs of snakes are much more elongated that those of other animals, so that they can fit inside a snake’s long body. They often have only one usable lung (the other is small and almost non-functional). The intestines (and other organs, such as the liver and stomach) are very long and not coiled up, and the stomach can expand so that the snake can eat large prey.
After a little searching, I found this, which is an image of a snake’s internal organs.
Cool! Thanks, Tom P. Now I feel both educated and vindicated. (I knew the pig wouldn’t be able to turn corners, but I did admit the possibility of a helical arrangement.)
Sig line!
Damn good link, Tom P.. Welcome to the boards.
Actually, the pig does “turn corners,” so to speak. Not to kill a good sig line or anything, but the intestines of snakes are generally folded longitudinally, sort of like an old fire hose. You can sort of see this in Tom P.'s illustration, but the detail is somewhat obscured by the ribs there. It’s not as elaborately coiled as human intestines because snakes are strictly carnivorous, and so have a shorter digestive tract. Of course, by the time the pig has hit the small intestine, it has been somewhat digested already, and so doesn’t really have a problem navigating the system.
Hamlet: Well, I thought it was funny.