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RE: Snake Venom Properties
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by BGF on January 5, 2004
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Snake venom is a mixture of different toxin classes. Within each toxin classes, several different versions usually are present and these further can vary considerably between closely related species or even within a different parts of the range of a single species.
Snake venom is produced from a specialised gland on the upper jaw that arose from an ancient saliva gland (but has differentiated into a completely different structure). Snake venom evolved only one time in snake evolution, right at the base of the Colubroidea (the advanced snakes). Snake venom evolved as a key adaptation in prey capture. The primative snakes (such as pythons) are heavy bodied animals that use muscle to capture their prey. However, this heavy muscle, while effective, greatly limits the snake's speed and agility. In order to become more gracile and athletic to be able to chase lizards around in the dust, snakes needed to trade in the very tool that had been used for prey capture previously. Enter venom. This single evolution of venom predates not only the Elapidae snake family (cobras, death adders, sea snakes etc.) and VIperidae snake family (puff-adders, rattlesnakes, etc.) but also all of the various families of 'colubrid' snakes. This means that venom is an inherent condition of the Colubroidea snakes, including virtually all of the snakes conventionally thought of as 'non-venomous'. For example, we isolated the classic cobra-style neurotoxin from a ratsnake.
Have a look at my website if you'd like to read more. http://www.venomdoc.com
Cheers
Bryan
Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
ARC-APD Research Fellow
Deputy Director
Australian Venom Research Unit
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