Editing Pythonidae (section)

==Feeding==
Pythons use their sharp, backward-curving teeth, four rows in the upper jaw, two in the lower, to grasp prey which is then killed by [[constriction]]; after an animal has been grasped to restrain it, the python quickly wraps a number of coils around it.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Death occurs primarily by [[cardiac arrest]].<ref name=":0">{{cite journal | last1 = Hardy | first1 = David L | name-list-style = vanc | year = 1994 | title = A re-evaluation of suffocation as the cause of death during constriction by snakes | journal = Herpetological Review | volume = 25|issue=22  | pages = 45–47 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite journal | vauthors = Boback SM, McCann KJ, Wood KA, McNeal PM, Blankenship EL, Zwemer CF | title = Snake constriction rapidly induces circulatory arrest in rats | journal = The Journal of Experimental Biology | volume = 218 | issue = Pt 14 | pages = 2279–88 | date = July 2015 | pmid = 26202779 | doi = 10.1242/jeb.121384 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Even the larger species, such as the [[reticulated python]] (''Malayopython reticulatus''), do not crush their prey to death.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rossman |first=Sean |title=Pythons can kill a human in minutes and swallow them in an hour |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/03/30/pythons-can-kill-human-minutes-and-swallow-them-hour/99824246/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>

Larger specimens usually eat animals about the size of a domestic cat, but larger food items are known; some large Asian species have been known to take down adult [[deer]], and the [[Central African rock python]] (''Python sebae'') has been known to eat [[antelope]]. The [[reticulated python]] is the only python species known to sometimes eat humans in its natural habitat in Sulawesi, Indonesia.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/python-kills-woman-indonesia-swallowed-up-to-her-shoulders-officials-say|title=Woman dies in python attack after being swallowed up to her shoulders, Indonesia officials say |author = AFP |date=16 August 2024|via=www.cbsnews.com|newspaper=CBS News}}</ref> All prey is swallowed whole, and may take several days or even weeks to fully digest.[[File:Python skull rotation.gif|alt=What a python skull looks like|A python skull|right|thumb]]