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Superbly strong stomachs are what protect death-eating vultures from food poisoning, according to a new study.

Scientists found that vultures are able to digest "food" that would likely kill most other animals because they are immune to bacteria that reside in rotting meat and feces. Researchers noted that vultures sometimes start their meals through the anus of their prey. While vultures mostly start by tearing meat from the back to the bone, these carrions need to enter through other routes when the animal's hide is too tough to pierce with their beak.

Researchers Lars Hestbjerg Hansen, a professor at Aarhus University, and PhD-student Michael Roggenbuck analyzed the DNA of bacteria living on the face and in the gut of 50 vultures living in the United States.

The findings revealed an average of 528 different types of bacteria on the facial skin of vultures. However, only 76 species of bacteria were found in the gut.

"Our results show there has been strong adaptation in vultures when it comes to dealing with the toxic bacteria they digest. On one hand vultures have developed an extremely tough digestive system, which simply acts to destroy the majority of the dangerous bacteria they ingest. On the other hand, vultures also appear to have developed a tolerance towards some of the deadly bacteria - species that would kill other animals actively seem to flourish in the vulture lower intestine," Roggenbuck said in a news release.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.