#digestive system

(btw they're smart enough to know that kevlar is inedible. They mostly do it to scare and demoralise their enemies and really disrespect them, it doesn't have to be practical but shouldn't be *harmful*. They're also the partially radiotrophic life I mentioned earlier, if that changes things)

I'm thinking they have really strong muscles that crush bones and organs in the throat, they don't need the victim to be alive during swallowing let alone in the stomach. In the stomach... probably really strong acid? I have no idea.

firstly, they'll obviously need a mouth, throat, and stomach large/flexible enough to swallow a whole adult human.

consuming whole prey like this is common for reptiles and birds, so you can look up how they get rid of the inedible parts of their prey for inspiration!

for example, owls! probably the first animal that comes to mind when you think of a predator that can sort out the indigestible parts of its prey.

here's an article that goes into detail on how they do it:

but to sum up, first their food goes through a sort of pre-digestion stage by getting covered in enzymes, and then the gizzard acts like a sieve. while the softer fleshy stuff is dissolved, it can pass through, and the stuff that doesn't get dissolved, like bones, stays in the gizzard to be compacted into an owl pellet.

so for a creature that can swallow armored humans, all they'd need is a strong enough enzyme/stomach acid to digest flesh, and enough space between armor pieces for that flesh to be exposed to the enzymes. the flesh gets all gooey and passes through the filtering organ, the indigestible bits are left behind and coughed back up as a pellet or something.

In a study of fruit fly (Drosophila) larvae, an international team of researchers has discovered how swallowing food is linked to the release of the feel-good chemical serotonin in the brain – offering new insight into how and why animals eat. If the same mechanisms are present in humans, then this could be a fascinating insight into our own drive to consume food and drink.

Introducing: The grossest thing I have ever made!