In Non-human Animals
In many birds, the esophagus is largely a mere gravity chute, and in such events as a seagull swallowing a fish or a stork swallowing a frog, swallowing consists largely of the bird lifting its head with its beak pointing up and guiding the prey with tongue and jaws so that the prey slides inside and down.
In fish, the tongue is largely bony and much less mobile and getting the food to the back of the pharynx is helped by pumping water in its mouth and out of its gills.
In snakes, the work of swallowing is done by raking with the lower jaw until the prey is far enough back to be helped down by body undulations.
Read more about this topic: Gulp
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