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Evolution of venom resistance
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by Wendy on March 2, 2008
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Hello,
I am a student at Acadia University in Canada, and am currently in a 2.5 week long intensive evolution class. As part of the class, we are required to write an essay and give a short class presentation (due next week). The topic I am doing is something along the lines of evolution of the resistance to venom, and how/if that affects the strength of the venom of that particular snake.
My professor suggested I do something along the lines of the California ground squirrel and its resistance to rattlesnake venom, however, there is a lot of room in terms of what I actually do the project on.
If anyone has any suggestions of a specific topic involving venom evolution that would make for an interesting project, that would be awesome.
Any links to solid informational websites (journal articles would be best) would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Wendy :)
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RE: Evolution of venom resistance
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by earthguy on March 3, 2008
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Wendy,
Before the end of this thread, someone is going to ask you to fill out your profile a little more thoroughly (you tend to get faster and better answers here if people have some idea of who you are). That nastiness aside, I think the ground squirrel angle is a good one. I would suggest that you also look at the relationship between your rough skinned newt and garter snake. That's a poison issue as opposed to a venom issue , but the coevolution process is essentially the same. It would actually be neat to compare the two in that with the rattlesnakes it is the prey developing the resistance, and with the garter snakes it is the predator that has to develop the resistance. I love the Red Queen hypothesis.
I don't have any papers in front of me right now, but I do remember that the newt/garter snake relationship was shown on "The Evolutionary Arms Race" from the excellent PBS series "Evolution".
Hope this helps a little.
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RE: Evolution of venom resistance
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by Rob_Carmichael on March 3, 2008
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Wendy, there is indeed a lot of great info out there. I would also receommend checking out www.venomdoc.com Dr. Bryan Gregory Frye is a good guy and is one of the experts on snake venom. Wolfgang Wuster is another excellent source and his website is second to none...of course, I can't find it at the moment but feel free to email me. Some of my college students are doing a similar assignment/project.
The ground squirrel project is a good idea as they have not only developed immunity to the venom of, I believe, Crotalus helleri, but they also do some amazing tail flagging behaviors. There's many directions you can go.
Good luck.
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Adjunct Faculty at College of Lake County, Division of Biological Sciences
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RE: Evolution of venom resistance
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by Cro on March 3, 2008
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Wendy, the site Science Daily has a lot of articles that might be of help to you.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/frogs_and_reptiles/
There you will be able to search through thousands of articles and reviews using their search engine, or just paging back through the last few years of articles.
Also, use the search feature on this site in the News section, as I have posted links to many of these types of articles during the last few years.
As far as "Wolfie's" site that Rob could not remember the URL of, it is http://biology.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/
Hope this helps. Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: Evolution of venom resistance
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by Cro on March 3, 2008
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Wendy, another great site you should visit is that of Dr. Zoltan Takacs, at:
http://zoltantakacs.com/
Read his section on Research of venoms.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: Evolution of venom resistance
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by Wendy on March 3, 2008
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Thanks everyone!
Your suggestions were really helpful, and I have a good idea of the direction that I'll take the project now.
But, if anyone has anything to add, please do :)
As for a bit more about me/my interests: I have been keeping non venomous snakes since I was about 5 years old (my first snake was a garter snake that had a run in with a lawn mower). I have three snakes now, a corn snake, a bull snake, and a hog island boa. I'd have way more, but money/space is limited :).
I have wanted to get into venomous snakes for as long as I can remember, but don't have the resources to do so, as it is illegal to keep venomous animals where I live, and I deeeefinitely want to apprentice for a long time before getting one of my own. One day :) Having an interest makes this project a lot more fun!
I hope to get into zoology and get into environmental education/reptile education in a zoo setting. My plans are to apply to a zoo technology program in the States after I get my undergrad.
Thanks again for the suggestions!
Wendy :)
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RE: Evolution of venom resistance
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by earthguy on March 4, 2008
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You're definitely in the right place. We have public and private zoo keepers, environmental educators, and a whole host of others who know what they're talking about. Good luck.
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