Could it be cushioning? Perhaps the Elites didn't grow up as the dominant predator in their habitat?
Can't wait for scarab to log in. He's always got some interesting insight to biological matters.

: Also, something about this, probably the lack of a hinge for the lower jaws
: and the distance from the skull to the bottom of the mouth, makes me
: picture some Elites eating like snakes; their mouths expanding to the size
: of their meal. Thinking about it realistically, their jaw isn't really
: laid out well for chewing. Maybe it's possible?

To my knowledge, I'm the closest thing this forum has to a resident herpetologist (In fact, I spotted a blob of snake crap in the far side of my room not three minutes ago. Really ought to watch the guy closer when he's free-roaming) I'd have to say that I'm skeptical of that.

First is that, proportionally, snakes have a LOT more muscle connecting their mandibles than Elites do. Unless their prey is about the size of a gopher, I can't really see them swallowing anything whole.

It's possible that more sophisticated mastication equipment is hidden further down the neck*. Maybe the fauna on Sanghelios is so dangerous, it pays to have all your digestive equipment on the inside of your body. Alternatively, the jaws developed purely to tear at enemies in a fight. No need for poison, just leave four trails of deep, jagged cuts and follow them until they drop dead from blood loss.

*Incidentally, I'm convinced that Elites do all their vocalization deep in their throat, and the movement of mandibles conveys information like our facial expressions do.