How do snakes swallow animals so much bigger than they are?

Explore how snakes evolved, and find out how their jaw-dropping anatomy allows them to take down prey several times their size.

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Since slithering onto the scene some 150 million years ago, evolving length and limbless-ness out of their ancestral lizard forms, snakes have diversified rapidly. Their noodly bodies and flexible heads granted them access to novel places and prey. And today, there are nearly 4,000 snake species, spanning habitats high and low. Niko Zlotnik explores how snakes evol