Parts of an Anaconda: Understanding its Different Body Parts and Their Functions

Most snakes are easy to miss, but an anaconda is hard to ignore; it can grow longer than a school bus and heavier than most adults. That is what an anaconda looks like. It is one of the biggest snakes on Earth and lives near rivers and swamps in South America. Anacondas are not just big; every part of their body has a job to do. From the head to the tail, each part helps the snake eat, move, breathe and survive in the wild. Let us look at the different parts of an anaconda and understand what makes this snake so unique.

The Head

The head of an anaconda is wide and a little flat. It is bigger than the neck, so you can tell it apart from the rest of the body. The eyes are small and sit on the sides of the head. Anacondas are mostly active at night and their eyes help them see in low light.

The nostrils sit on top of the snout, not at the front. This is very helpful because the anaconda spends a lot of time in water. With nostrils on top, it can breathe while the rest of its body stays underwater. Anacondas also have a forked tongue. They flick it in and out all the time. The tongue picks up smells from the air and sends them to a special part inside the mouth called the Jacobson's organ. This is how the anaconda figures out what is nearby: it uses its tongue to smell.

Jaws

The jaws of an anaconda are not like ours. Our jaws are fixed, but an anaconda’s jaws have stretchy connections between the upper and lower parts. Because of this, the mouth can open very wide.

This is how the anaconda swallows its food whole, even animals much bigger than its head. The two sides of the lower jaw can also move one at a time, almost like walking. This helps the snake slowly pull the food into its mouth.

Teeth

Anacondas have sharp teeth that curve backward. These teeth are not used for chewing. Anacondas do not chew their food at all. The teeth are only used to hold the prey tightly so it cannot slip out. Once the prey is held, the anaconda uses its body, not its teeth, to do the rest.

Body

The body is the longest part of an anaconda. A fully grown anaconda can be 8 to 9 metres long, which is longer than a big car. It is also very heavy, sometimes over 200 kilograms. The body is covered with scales. Scales are small, hard pieces of skin that protect the anaconda from getting hurt. The belly scales are wider and help the snake grip the ground when it moves.

Inside the body, there are strong muscles. These muscles are what make the anaconda dangerous. When it catches an animal, it wraps around it and squeezes. The squeezing is so tight that the prey cannot breathe. This way of catching food is called constriction. The body also holds the stomach and the rest of the digestive system. After a big meal, it can take the anaconda several days, sometimes even weeks, to finish digesting.

Lungs

Anacondas have a large right lung that runs almost the full length of the upper body. There is also a smaller left lung. These big lungs allow the anaconda to hold its breath underwater for up to 10 minutes. This comes in very handy since anacondas spend so much time in rivers and swamps.

Tail

The tail starts after the digestive opening and ends in a point. It is shorter compared to the rest of the body, but it is still useful. When the anaconda swims, the tail helps it steer, like a rudder on a boat. It also helps the snake hold onto branches or rocks without sliding off.

Skin

The skin of an anaconda is brownish-green with dark spots all over it. This pattern helps the anaconda blend into its surroundings, muddy water, wet leaves and shadows in the forest. This is called camouflage and it helps the snake hide from both predators and prey. As the anaconda grows, it sheds its old skin. The entire skin comes off in one piece and a fresh layer is underneath. Young anacondas shed more often than adults because they grow faster.