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| Venom : Earliest animals to develop and use it. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 15 2017, 09:26 PM (1,149 Views) | |
| Taipan | Feb 15 2017, 09:26 PM Post #1 |
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Latest reseach suggests Euchambersia mirabilis, a therapsid, is the first known (suspected) animal to be "venomous"! Kiss of death: Mammals were the first animals to produce venom Date: February 13, 2017 Source: University of the Witwatersrand Summary: The fossil of the Euchambersia therapsid (a pre-mammalian reptile), that lived in South Africa about 260 million years ago, is the first evidence of the oldest mammal to produce venom. CT scans of fossils of the pre-mammalian reptile shows anatomical features, designed for venom production. ![]() This is an artist's impression of the Euchambersia. Credit: Wits University Africa is a tough place. It always has been. Especially if you have to fend off gigantic predators like sabre-toothed carnivores in order to survive. And, when you're a small, dog-sized pre-mammalian reptile, sometimes the only way to protect yourself against these monsters is to turn your saliva into a deadly venomous cocktail. That is exactly what a distant, pre-mammalian reptile, the therapsid Euchambersia, did about 260 million years ago, in order to survive the rough conditions offered by the deadly South African environment. Living in the Karoo, near Colesberg in South Africa, the Euchambersia developed a deep and circular fossa, just behind its canine teeth in the upper jaw, in which a deadly venomous cocktail was produced, and delivered directly into the mouth through a fine network of bony grooves and canals. "This is the first evidence of the oldest venomous vertebrate ever found, and what is even more surprising is that it is not in a species that we expected it to be, " says Dr Julien Benoit, researcher at the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. "Today, snakes are notorious for their venomous bite, but their fossil record vanishes in the depth of geological times at about 167 million years ago, so, at 260 million years ago, the Euchambersia evolved venom more than a 100 million years before the very first snake was even born. " As venom glands don't fossilise, Benoit and his colleagues from at Wits University, in association with the Natural History Museum of London used cutting edge CT scanning and 3D imagery techniques to analyse the only two fossilised skulls of the Euchambersia ever found, and discovered stunning anatomical adaptions that are compatible with venom production. Their results were published in the open access journal, PlosOne, in February. "First, a wide, deep and circular fossa (a space in the skull) to accommodate a venom gland was present on the upper jaw and was connected to the canine and the mouth by a fine network of bony grooves and canals," says Benoit. "Moreover, we discovered previously undescribed teeth hidden in the vicinity of the bones and rock: two incisors with preserved crowns and a pair of large canines, that all had a sharp ridge. Such a ridged dentition would have helped the injection of venom inside a prey. " Unlike snakes like vipers or cobras, which actively inject their prey with venom through needle-like grooves in their teeth, the Euchambersia's venom flowed directly into its mouth, and the venom was passively introduced into its victim through ridges on the outside of its canine teeth. "Euchambersia could have used its venom for protection or hunting. Most venomous species today use their venom for hunting, so I would rather go for this option. In addition, animals at that time were not all insectivorous, particularly among therapsids, which were very diverse." Story Source: University of the Witwatersrand. "Kiss of death: Mammals were the first animals to produce venom." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170213131412.htm (accessed February 15, 2017). Journal Reference: Julien Benoit, Luke A. Norton, Paul R. Manger, Bruce S. Rubidge. Reappraisal of the envenoming capacity of Euchambersia mirabilis (Therapsida, Therocephalia) using μCT-scanning techniques. PLOS ONE, 2017; 12 (2): e0172047 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172047 Abstract Euchambersia mirabilis is an iconic species of Permo-Triassic therapsid because of its unusually large external maxillary fossa linked through a sulcus to a ridged canine. This anatomy led to the commonly accepted conclusion that the large fossa accommodated a venom gland. However, this hypothesis remains untested so far. Here, we conducted a μCT scan assisted reappraisal of the envenoming capacity of Euchambersia, with a special focus on the anatomy of the maxillary fossa and canines. This study shows that the fossa, presumably for the venom-producing gland, is directly linked to the maxillary canal, which carries the trigeminal nerve (responsible for the sensitivity of the face). The peculiar anatomy of the maxillary canal suggests important reorganisation in the somatosensory system and that a ganglion could possibly have been present in the maxillary fossa instead of a venom gland. Nevertheless, the venom gland hypothesis is still preferred since we describe, for the first time, the complete crown morphology of the incisiform teeth of Euchambersia, which strongly suggests that the complete dentition was ridged. Therefore Euchambersia manifests evidence of all characteristics of venomous animals: a venom gland (in the maxillary fossa), a mechanism to deliver the venom (the maxillary canal and/or the sulcus located ventrally to the fossa); and an apparatus with which to inflict a wound for venom delivery (the ridged dentition). Full PDF : Reappraisal of the envenoming capacity of Euchambersia mirabilis (Therapsida, Therocephalia) using μCT-scanning techniques Edited by Taipan, Feb 15 2017, 09:27 PM.
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| zergthe | Feb 15 2017, 10:53 PM Post #2 |
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Kleptoparasite
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How far back does the fossil record go for the venomous arachnids like scorpions and spiders? Because if therapsids had venom before even the arachnids...that's hard to wrap one's head around.
Edited by zergthe, Feb 15 2017, 10:54 PM.
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| Grimace | Feb 15 2017, 11:39 PM Post #3 |
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Kleptoparasite
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This seems to be repeatedly talking about how they had venom before snakes, which isn't terribly surprising since snakes are a relatively recent thing. Definitely not the earliest venomous animals though. Jellyfish have been around longer than life on land, and there are a bunch of very early animals that seemed to have venom. We'll probably never know the earliest venomous animal because it seems like it definitely goes way back to the time of everything being small and soft bodied and fossilizing very poorly. |
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| Ceph | Feb 15 2017, 11:49 PM Post #4 |
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Piscivore
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I think we can assume they are referring strictly to chordata. |
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| Nergigante | Feb 15 2017, 11:55 PM Post #5 |
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Carnivore
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How big is euchambersia? (I just want to mention that it has robust skull)
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| zergthe | Feb 16 2017, 12:56 AM Post #6 |
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Kleptoparasite
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That makes more sense, sorry. And eyeballing it, I'd say it was maybe terrier to red fox sized, as it was said to be rather small and stuff in the species profile. If I had the time right now, I'd set up a proportion (skull size/body size) to find out the animal's probable size using its contemporary, lystrosaurus. Edited by zergthe, Feb 16 2017, 02:29 AM.
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| Ausar | Feb 16 2017, 02:39 AM Post #7 |
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Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can!
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Why use Lystrosaurus? They're both therapsids, but that's about it. On another note, I find it a bit funny how a few news headlines are referring to this creature as a mammal (saying something like "mammals were the first animals to use venom"). I can understand how they'd err in such a way, but still. Edited by Ausar, Feb 16 2017, 02:41 AM.
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| zergthe | Feb 16 2017, 02:55 AM Post #8 |
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Kleptoparasite
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Well, one one note, it's literally the only thing I am somewhat familiar with, and on the other, I am under the impression they will be around roughly the same size. So...yeah. Dammit , I just noticed I didn't even know the skull of lystrosaurus. I guess I'm just gonna use Inostrancevia or something.Okay, here is my proportion setup, using Inostrancevia: 45cm/430cm (Inostrancevia)=11.6cm (type specimen [Euchambersia])/x, where 'x' is the unknown body size. You end up with 45x=4988. Divide 4988 by 45 and you have the result of Euchambersia's likely body size as an adult to be 110.84 cm long. Anyone else have any other size estimates? Edited by zergthe, Feb 16 2017, 03:16 AM.
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| Ausar | Feb 16 2017, 05:41 AM Post #9 |
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Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can!
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Alright, well, whilst I'm not going to tell you what to do, I personally wouldn't try to make any extrapolations from that data.
Edited by Ausar, Feb 16 2017, 05:41 AM.
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| zergthe | Feb 16 2017, 05:46 AM Post #10 |
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Kleptoparasite
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Had to google 'extrapolation' quick, I fully realize that I should come to any early conclusions, but I am willing to bet it's gonna be around that size. This would be a great time for blaze to show up. Anyways, what do you think, Ausar? Should I at least do two other proportions, and should they be exclusively therapsids I use in my proportions? Edited by zergthe, Feb 16 2017, 05:49 AM.
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| micrompciraptor | Feb 16 2017, 06:09 AM Post #11 |
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Heterotrophic Organism
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probably the gastropods and arthropods |
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| Ausar | Feb 16 2017, 10:26 AM Post #12 |
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Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can!
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I'd say yes. Maybe you can try finding anything about the proportions of fellow akidognathids in particular (for Euchambersia was in the family Akidognathidae). |
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| zergthe | Feb 17 2017, 01:07 AM Post #13 |
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Kleptoparasite
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I'm unable to find akidognathids with both skull and body size, Ausar, so the second thing I am going to use is it's relative Cynognathus, because it actually gives me both body and skull size. New proportion is 30cm/100cm [Cynognathus]=11.6cm/x. Cross multiply and get 30cmx=1160cm. Divide 1160cm by 30cm and you result in 38.67cm for body size. Good grief, I wish they were closer to each other. So far... Estimate 1: 110.84cm body Estimate 2: 38.67cm body I am almost convinced I screwed something up... I'm going to use at least five others so I can get a relatively more reliable average. Number three is the therocephalian Pristerognathus, with a skull length of 25cm and a full body length of 150cm. Proportion: 25cm/150cm=11.6cm/x. Cross multiply to get 25xcm=1740cm. Divide 1740 by 25. Result is 69.6cm body length. Perhaps I should scrap the Inostrancevia-Euchambersia proportion... Number four is Glanosuchus, with a skull of 30cm and an estimated body length of 180cm. Proportion: 30cm/180cm=11.6cm/x. Cross multiply to get 30xcm=2088cm. Divide 2088cm by 30cm for the result of 69.6cm. I'm seeing some similarity here. So far... Estimate 1: 110.84cm body length (I think I should scrap this one) Estimate 2: 38.67cm body length Estimate 3: 69.6cm body length Estimate 4: 69.6cm body length Should I scrap the Inostrancevia-Euchambersia proportion? I have finally found another akidognathid that has a skull and body length. The animal is Annatherapsidus. Proportion: 22cm/91cm=11.6/x. Cross multiply for 22xcm=1055.6. Divide 1055.6/22. End result is 47.9818 some centimeters. New results... Estimate 1: 110.84cm body Estimate 2: 38.67cm body length Estimate 3: 69.6cm body length Estimate 4: 69.6cm body length Estimate 5: 47.9818cm body length Edited by zergthe, Feb 17 2017, 05:19 AM.
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| tigerburningbright | Feb 20 2017, 01:31 PM Post #14 |
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Herbivore
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Snakes are not the creators/originators of venom by any means.....But I would argue they have perfected venom (atleast when it comes to killing/harming large Mammalian animals) far more so than any other creature.....No other Venomous animals even comes close in that regard....Virtually every large Mammal you can name has died from a Snake bite...... When you look at the evidence....Snakes are really unmatched...The impact Snakes have had on Humanity is just unparalleled compared to any other Venomous creature....If you take Snakes out of the equation (and maybe some Scorpion species) than Venomous Animals (of ALL other types) probably kill about 50-100 people per year.....Add Snakes (and a couple of Scorpions) to that equation and the number of people killed by Venomous animals is 50,000+....Quite an extraordinary difference....And all of a sudden Venomous animals are the "Deadliest" things in the world to humans....When in reality its really just Snakes....Most other Venomous animals barely kill or envenomate anyone....and when they do it's a minor envenomation the vast majority of times (atleast for a healthy Adult Human)... Just as Felines are the ultimate Land killers (and possibly ultimate killers period when you consider they frequently kill creatures far larger then themselves)....Snakes are the ultimate Venomous animals imo..... Edited by tigerburningbright, Feb 20 2017, 01:34 PM.
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| Carnoferox | Feb 20 2017, 01:41 PM Post #15 |
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Herbivore
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Personally, I believe that the platypus is the most dangerous venomous animal.
Edited by Carnoferox, Feb 20 2017, 01:41 PM.
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, I just noticed I didn't even know the skull of lystrosaurus. I guess I'm just gonna use Inostrancevia or something.
4:48 PM Jul 13