Scientists Find Intact 5-Foot Alligator Inside 18-Foot-Long Burmese Python in Florida
There's a terrifying reptile version of a turducken, just in time for Thanksgiving.
Instead of a duck stuffed inside a chicken stuffed inside a turkey, a Florida scientist and her colleagues recently discovered an entire alligator stuck inside a Burmese python.
Earlier this month, geoscientist Rosie Moore posted a video on her Instagram of the snake's necropsy, which included the surprising gator guest.
"The Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) is one of the largest snakes in the world (up to 20+ft)," Moore captioned the post. "This particular Python was roughly 18 ft, and had consumed a 5ft alligator. 🤯"
The graphic video shows Moore and her colleagues at the lab removing the mostly intact dead alligator from the python. It has garnered nearly 400,000 views since the geoscientist posted it two weeks ago.
RELATED: Body of Missing Woman Found Inside 23-Ft. Python Near Plantation in Indonesia: Reports
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"I actually thought it was pretty gross too, and I'm used to necropsies and things," Moore told CNN's Jeanne Moos about the find.
She continued, "Oh my gosh, we were taking breaks running outside trying to get some fresh air. I've never smelled anything like that."
According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Burmese pythons are an invasive species in the state. It is legal for members of the public to capture and humanely kill Burmese pythons found in Florida to curb the species' negative impact on the state's ecosystem.
Moore received the python that consumed the alligator after the snake died. She performed the necropsy on the non-venomous species after someone felt something large inside the python's body.
Last month, Indonesian authorities said that the body of a missing woman was found inside a python that measured more than 20 feet long.
"This is extremely rare," Bruce Jayne, professor of biological sciences at the University of Cincinnati, told PEOPLE.
Though there are cases of snakes consuming humans, Jayne says, the "vast majority" involved enormous pythons and people of a "rather small stature."
"It takes pythons a really long time to attain these really enormous sizes," he says. "As a result, there are actually very few of these really, really large pythons."
