"Zootopia 2" is a hit. Do snakes really have no shoulders?

According to media reports on December 5, the animated movie "Zootopia 2" is a hit. The snake-shaped character "Gary" in the movie has aroused heated discussions among the audience for his line "I have no shoulders." Many netizens are curious: Do snakes really have no "shoulders"?First the answer: indeed no.

According to experts, there is an anatomical term called "shoulder girdle", which refers to the skeletal structure of vertebrates that connects the forelimbs and trunk. It is mainly composed of scapula and clavicle, and can also be understood as what we usually call "shoulder". When snakes' forelimbs completely disappeared during evolution, the connecting structure of the shoulder girdle also degenerated.

In addition to having no shoulders, snakes also have no external and middle ears, tympanic membranes and tympanum, so they can hardly hear external sounds. However, there is a slender ossicle inside the tissue on both sides of the back of the head that helps the snake transmit vibration waves, called the otic columella. The inner end of the otic columella bone is connected to the inner ear, and the outer end is connected to the middle part of the square bone. However, the snake's hearing is still very poor.