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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 04/02/2006 : 07:56:00
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.... I get the urge to do a natural history piece. I've been casting about for a good topic for some time, and I've finally settled on one, but I've a lot of research ahead of me.
Whilst sifting through my documents to see what I already had, I happened across one that's been here before but which I think is worth a re-visit. So, here 'tis:
VENOMS, AND THE LIKE
Bite from a western diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox}
Question: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
Answer: “Who cares; pass the Tabasco.....”
A similar and equally idiotic question/statement has been snidely put forth about serpent venoms, and it's rather like the ‘half-wing' straw man blather-from-ignorance we hear from various Creationist groups: “Of what use is venom with no injection system, and vise-versa?”
Answer: “Obviously none, therefore it all had to be created at the same time, proving the Theory of Evolution is false, and ha-ha all over you!”
In this screed, I shall pass the Tabasco.
First, what exactly is a venom? What makes an animal ‘hot, ' and how is this any different from a poison. We'll quickly straighten the latter out first: basically, venoms are injected; poisons are ingested.
A venom is any substance produced and used by an animal to subdue prey and/or defend itself. The list of venomous animals is an extensive one and it goes far beyond snakes. There are hot insects and arachnids, as we all know, and even a few mammals such as shrews. A stab from the venomous spurs of a male platypus and it's fellow monotreme, the echidna, can be a quite painful experience. There are even venomous birds. A great many sea creatures are venomous, including but not restricted to jellyfish, anemones, corals, octopi, and some fish such as stingrays, stonefish and the gafftops'l catfish have venomous spines. These incidentally, fit nicely in the skillet, venom not withstanding.
I once met a man who claimed to have been stung by a cone shell, species unknown. He found it in shallow water, and as it was pretty, he took it to his hotel room and began digging at it with a jack knife; to kill it, one presumes. The gastropod reacted predictably and stabbed him in the finger with one of it's ‘harpoons.' He told me that he has never experienced such pain, before or since.
I can personally attest to the effectiveness of sea wasp and Portuguese man 'o war venoms.
So, considering the minute amounts of venom injected, various sea creatures are the hottest in the world.
But back to the question of the evolution of venoms and their injection systems in serpents. As I have stated elsewhere, venom evolved first, and exactly how it happened can be easily seen in living Colubrid species today. All snakes have duvernoy's organs, the venom glands, although they are degenerate in constrictors such as the Boids (boas and pythons), that don‘t rely as much on biting to subdue prey. These are modified salivary glands that are used to produce a saliva of varying degrees of toxicity. It shows up in that the bites of many non-venomous snakes are messy far past the severity of the bite, which seldom amounts to more than a few pinpricks. It is considered an anticoagulant, but it is a little more than that in that it contains toxins that will slow down a frog, or in the case of small snakes such as ringnecks and dekay‘s, large earthworms and slugs, and render them more manageable. None of these are medically significant to humans and, having no fangs, these
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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pleco
SFN Addict
USA
2998 Posts |
 Posted - 04/02/2006 : 08:28:15 [Permalink]
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Yeah, but goddidit.
Excellent post! I very much enjoyed reading that. Thanks! |
by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart. |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 04/02/2006 : 08:48:10 [Permalink]
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| Excellent indeed. The picture is extra scary. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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R.Wreck
SFN Regular
USA
1191 Posts |
Posted - 04/02/2006 : 11:58:18 [Permalink]
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Very nice filthy. Even I, who gets the urge to run like a sissy at the mere sight of a snake, found that extremely interesting. |
The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley
The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 04/02/2006 : 15:12:19 [Permalink]
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I'm delighted that the piece is getting such a reception the second time around. Thanks!
Here is the rinkhal's spitting cobra that I thought for a while was going to cost me an eye:
Hemachatus haemachatus
The movement of me letting the camera down triggered the little stinker, and a drop of venom got behind my glasses. Oy veh!! It taught me to wear a face shield when dealing with spitters.
I am going to try to do that pic in a thumbnail. He really is a pretty snake and the tiny photo doesn't do him justice.
Edit: Doc has made the above picture a thumbnail, so it's address post has been deleted.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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| Edited by - filthy on 04/05/2006 13:12:49 |
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