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Toxic Animals (pic heavy)
- Jun 15, 2009 at 3:54 PM
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Have you even been the victim of a nasty venomous spider bite? Or maybe accidentally eaten or touched an animal that is poisonous? Poisons that some aninmals make can kill a human being! There is a difference between being venomous and being poisonous, and it's really easy to understand. Many writings on the internet use these terms rather interchangeably, when they really shouldn't.
A poison is generally any substance that causes a "biological disruption". A toxin is a special class of poisons, specifically one that is naturally occuring and has a biological purpose. A venom is a spceical type of toxin that is injected into an organism by bites or stings. The terms toxic and poisonous actually do mean the same thing though!
Venomous creatures such as spiders make venom and inject it into their prey or use it as a defense mechanism. Common venomous creatures include many variety of spiders, snakes and jellyfish. They all use venomous bites and stings to immobilize and/or kill their prey, or protect themselves from becoming prey. Venom is usually concentrated in a small area in the animal, such as a gland. Take a look at some venomous animals. What would you be most afraid of? Which one is most beautiful? There are many more venomous animals out there, and many varieties of these as well. i left a very obvious one off the list, do you know what it is??
Scorpions have a stinger at the end of their tail (picture from medtogo).
Centipedes have a pair ofclaws behind the head (picture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln).
Wasps (pictured above) and bees have stingers at the base of the abdomen (picture from Pavel Krasensky at naturephoto).
Box jellyfish has multiple stingers that can be excruciatingly painful. They have a very potent venom that can even kill humans (photo from National Geographic).
The cone snail has a long tooth coming from the mouth like a harpoon that delivers venom to its prey (picture from itsnature). Multiple stings from larger snails can be fatal to humans.
Stingrays are among my favorite water animals. They can deliver quite a sting from the long stinger on their tail (picture from absolutedivers).
Stonefish have a series of venomous spikes along the back. These spikes each deliver venom, so a very serious sting with penetration of multiple spikes can cause alot of pain and damage alot of human tissue (picture from scuba-equipment-usa).
The Komodo Dragon has a very painful venomous bite that can seriously hurt a human. In addition, this large lizard has crushing jaws and a powerful tail (picture from komododragonlearning).
Gila monster is another lizard with a poisonous bite (picture from California Acadamy of Science).
The blue ringed octopus is very small (the size of a golf ball), but have a cocktail of neurotoxins in its salivary gland that cankill a human. This is among the most toxic species in the world (picture from California Acadamy of Science).
In contrast, poisonous creatures such as frogs and some fish are poisonous to other species (such as humans) only when consumed or handled. They usually either secrete a toxin onto their surface, or the toxin resides in their muscles, which will make the eater very sick. Poisonous animals usually have relatively large amounts of the substance in or on their bodies. Take a look below at a few poisonous animals. What would you be most afraid of? Which one is most beautiful?
One of the most beautiful to me is the blue poison dart frog, which if a favorite in zoos around the world (picture from dartfrog).
A few species of bird, including the pitohui of Paupau New Guinea have been found to have poison on the skin and feathers. They can be eaten but require special handling (picture from greenexpander).
The skin and some internal organs of the puffer fish are extremely poisonous, but this creature is still considered a delicacy in Japan (picture from National Geographic).
There is one animal I know of that is both venomous and poisonous, in a way. The slow loris has patches on its elbows that secret toxin. The slow loris rubs this toxin on its young to prevent it from being eaten (which makes it poisonous). At the same time, it likes these patches, giving it a venomous bite (picture below from Nature).
Do you have any poisonous or venomous animals where you live?
Tonya
AKA sunmoonstars
Comments:
Fascinating, yet again.
Wow. I never knew that there are poisonous birds. Amazing.
We have a few stinging wasps and biting spiders, but nothing as scary as some you listed. We have a huge mosquito problem, but aside from the occasional West Nile Virus infection, they're just a (very itchy) nuisance.
Dd learned an interesting fact while doing a science unit on insects for homeschool: the deadliest insect of all is the mosquito. Guess how many die from mosquito borne disease each year?
oh goodwoman - I kno in S. America and Africa malaria is still a killer..... I will guess a few hundred thousand a year!
A previous poster mentioned the "daddy longlegs". There is actually no evidence to support the myth that "the daddy longlegs is poisonous but too weak to bite humans". Here's a link to check out for info. http://spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.html
I believe mythbusters actually did an episode on this one as well and found it to be false.
I just finished a round of antibiotics for an infected spider bite.
We have rattlesnakes, black widows, the occasional scorpion, various bees and hornets, and velvet ants. The velvet ants are really cool, but the squeaking will surprise the heck out of you.
I had never heard of a velvet ant! wow.
Definitely the black widow. If you'd like some samples, let me know. We've got plenty of them around the house!
Bren-the velvet ants look cool! I've never noticed one before. I'll be on the lookout now!
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Cool pics and info, thanks for sharing.
- MaryJane849
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