As a pappy would say: if you see him writhe and hiss, miss him. Mankind has from time to time handed out wisdom-like nuggets, giving us healthy (and sometimes less than healthy) honors for keeping away from snakes.
But snake bites are usually a natural disaster – almost all species of snake have come up with the ability to absorb poison to catch prey, rather than for protection. But there are exceptions to the rule – new research shows that some snakes have developed their venom specifically to repel predators, including ourselves. And it’s especially painful for a good cause.
The study by an international team of scientists reveals a specific type of poisoning and animation strategy that came up at least three different times.
Cobras squirting and rinkhals are closely related snakes that are capable of spitting out poison long enough for an unconscious son to foam.
The effects are not pleasant. Chemicals in cobra poison peel off at the cornea, causing severe pain and – in high enough doses – blindness.
Fans such as water pistols and venom are not very suitable for fast food intake, so researchers saw this as a perfect opportunity to study the evolutionary history of the species or this is normal.
Snakes first appeared to be able to introduce poisons somewhere between 60 and 80 million years ago. Since then, thousands of species in the Colubroidea superfamily have reversed the original recipe and modified their mouthpieces according to their dietary needs.
Using fossils as a calibration, the researchers used molecular separation methods on the genomes of several real cleft cobra (Naja species), rinkhals (Hemachatus haemachatus), and relatives who do not swear (Walterinnesia aegyptia and Aspidelaps scutatus).
The findings suggested that African cobras developed their interesting use between 6.7 and 10.7 million years ago. Their Asian counterparts followed suit 4 million years later.
Rinkhals were difficult to cut down but must have developed their potential since they separated from other rocking cobras more than 17 million years ago.
A study of the toxins showed that the make-up was more similar to that of the non-sculpting relatives, with the exception of the more neurotoxic recipe associated with Naja philippinensis.
The energetic chemical effects of the toxins were also tested using live and cloud samples.
“We tested how poisonous components affected pain-sensing nerves and showed that ingestion of cobra toxins is more effective at causing pain than their non-pain counterparts. cleavage, ”says neuropharmacologist Irina Vetter from the University of Queensland in Australia.
Taken together, the sum of the results means that cobras and rinkhals repel their toxins and fangs independently, transforming into protective mechanisms capable of detracting large predators.
And just who were those big predators in each case? We can only guess, but the researchers argue that there are good reasons to think that our ancestors responded to the bill, citing evidence of snakes influencing neurobiology and primate behavior.
Humans and chimpanzees roared around the same time as the cobras of African squirrels developed. We are also likely to identify and attack potentially poisonous snakes from a short distance, emphasizing hatching as an appropriate means of delivering poison.
Of course, all profiteering is based on scattered evidence at this stage, but the comments deserve further investigation.
“It’s interesting to think that our ancestors may have influenced the origins of this protective chemical weapon in snakes,” said snake poisoning expert Nick Casewell from Liverpool University.
Ironically, by understanding the evolutionary link between toxins and our own bodies, we are in a better position to identify possible ways for new treatment classes.
The analgesic properties of rattlesnake poisoning, for example, could relieve millions of people living with neuropathic pain.
“Toxins that cause pain from animal poisons can be useful tools to help us understand the symptoms of molecular pain and help us identify new targets for future bleeding,” he said. University of Queensland molecular scientist Sam Robinson.
Time is what we call relaxation with the spitting cobra. We will keep our pace, and understand their skills from afar.
This research was published in Science.