When a Burmese python swallows a tasty rat dinner, the reptile makes new heart muscle to help digest the big meal, biologists have found. The predator has a special protein to expand its cardiac ...

When the meal hits, the whole python's body responds, with other organs besides the heart growing to cope with the metabolic strain. It's estimated that, following a meal, the snake's metabolism ...

Pythons can eat up to quarter of their body weight, or 40 pounds, in one meal. It turns out those huge meals make their hearts stronger and may offer insight into how to treat heart disease in humans.