Latest Venom Stories
A Maryland man bitten by a baby copperhead snake at his apartment inside a Buddhist temple said he prayed for the animal before setting it free. Sam Pettengill, 36, said he assumed the tiny snake was harmless when he found it inside his studio apartment Sunday night at the Kunzang Palyul Choling temple near Poolesville, so he attempted to pick it up, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. He said some friends helped him catch the snake in a vase and identify it as a potentially venomous...
Spanish police say they are waiting for a shipment of snake venom antidote before entering a Madrid apartment filled with illegal reptiles.Civil Guard officers in Madrid and zookeepers called in to assist with the operation Wednesday said they are waiting to enter an apartment believed to contain two pythons, five boa constrictors and a rattlesnake, The Times of London reported Thursday.The officers said local hospitals do not stock venom antidotes for non-native snakes and it could take up...
A study of venomous snails on remote Pacific islands reveals genetic underpinnings of an ecological phenomenon that has fascinated scientists since Darwin.The research, by University of Michigan evolutionary biologists Tom Duda and Taehwan Lee, is scheduled to be published online May 20 in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.In the study, Duda and Lee explored ecological release, a phenomenon thought to be responsible for some of the most dramatic diversifications of living things in Earth's...
Australian researchers have discovered what makes the Komodo dragon's bite so deadly for its prey.Scientists previously considered that the world's largest lizard's mouth held deadly bacteria that stopped its victims' blood from clotting. Walter Auffenberg put that theory forward in 1981.But lead researcher Bryan Fry used magnetic resonance imagery to show that the deadly lizard packs a venomous bite, as seen through its venom gland with ducts that lead to their teeth.Fry used 3-D computer...
A British letter carrier got an unpleasant surprise when a venomous snake lurking in a post box bit him on the hand. Alan Wakley told the Burnham & Highbridge Weekly News he is sure the snake, small and olive-green in color, was an adder. But he said his hand did not become swollen so the snake may not have actually injected him with venom, although he could see the mark of its fangs. The collection box in Brean Cove in Somerset, set into a wall, has now been sealed off with a sign: Out...
Once thought to be only the realm of the blue-ringed octopus, researchers have now shown that all octopuses and cuttlefish, and some squid are venomous. The work indicates that they all share a common, ancient venomous ancestor and highlights new avenues for drug discovery.Conducted by scientists from the University of Melbourne, University of Brussels and Museum Victoria, the study was published in the Journal of Molecular Evolution.Dr Bryan Fry from the Department of Biochemistry at the...
A Marks Tey, England, grocer said he was stung on the finger by a scorpion that stowed away in a box of bananas he purchased in London. Daniel Amey, 30, said he bought the box of bananas from Spitalfields Market in London for his grocery store, The Food Co., The Daily Telegraph reported Monday. I put my hand in the box and thought I had cut it but by the time I was carrying the bananas, my finger had swollen up to twice its size and it felt like it was burning, Amey said. The doctor was...
A Marks Tey, England, grocer said he was stung on the finger by a scorpion that stowed away in a box of bananas he purchased in London. Daniel Amey, 30, said he bought the box of bananas from Spitalfields Market in London for his grocery store, The Food Co., The Daily Telegraph reported Monday. I put my hand in the box and thought I had cut it but by the time I was carrying the bananas, my finger had swollen up to twice its size and it felt like it was burning, Amey said. The doctor was...
Spitting cobras have an exceptional ability to spray venom into eyes of potential attackers. A new study published in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology reveals how these snakes maximize their chances of hitting the target.The name "spitting cobra" is a bit of a misnomer. Cobras don't actually "spit" venom, says the study's lead author Bruce Young, director of the Anatomical Laboratory in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell....
Police said an Indiana man who was bitten by a venomous snake was later charged with possessing the serpent without a permit. Conservation Officer Mac Spainhour said John Haley was rushed to a hospital after he was bitten by a rhinoceros viper Monday and medical staff discovered the snake's bite had not injected any venom into his blood, WLKY-TV, Louisville, Ky., reported Thursday. Today, I went back with a snake expert from our department and we confiscated three venomous snakes and there's...
Latest Venom Reference Libraries
Image Caption: Puerto Rican Giant Centipede, Scolopendra gigantea; Vieques, Puerto Rico. Credit: Katka Nemčoková/Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) The Amazonian giant centipede (Scolopendra gigantean), also known as the Peruvian giant yellow-leg centipede, can be found in areas of the Caribbean and South America. Its range includes Saint Thomas, Grenada, Jamaica, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the island of seychelles Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, the Trinidad Islands, and western and northern regions...
The Scolopendra heros, also referred to as the Giant Redheaded Centipede, calls parts of the southern central and southwestern United States, as well as a significant portion of Mexico, its home. It has not been found west of the Colorado River. Varying in length from 6.5 to 8 inches, its trunk has 21 to 23 pairs of legs. The body is aposematically colored. This is a defensive coloration meant to scare off potential predators. There are several color varients within the species, depending...
The Elongate Surgeonfish, (Acanthurus mata), is a species of tropical fish found in the Indo-Pacific, and can be found as far north as Southern Japan and south to the Great Barrier Reef. Some also live as far west as South Africa and as far east as the Tuamotu Islands. Its main habitat is steep slopes around coral reefs. This is a light blue fish with numerous brown stripes running down the length of the body, although over time it is able to change color to become blue overall. It has a...
The Six-eyed Sand Spider (Sicarius hahni) is a species of arachnid found in southern Africa. It is found mostly in deserts and other sandy areas. The genus name, sicarius, is Latin for "murderer" or "assassin". This species is named after arachnologist Carl Wilhelm Hahn. The binomial name is interpreted as "Hahn's assassin". Due to the flattened stance and position of the legs, this species is also sometimes known as the Six-eyed Crab Spider. Studies of the venom of this spider have led...
The Black Mamba, Dendroaspis polylepis, is a venomous snake from Africa. They can be found in scrub land, bushes and small trees. They tend to live in permanent lairs for long periods if not disturbed. They usually make their homes in vacated insect mounds or hollow trees. The Black Mamba is the largest venomous snake in Africa and the second largest venomous snake in the world. It grows to an average length of 8 feet and may even grow to over 14 feet. It gets its name from the inky...
