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The venom-delivering spur is found only on the male's hind limbs. The platypus is one of the few living mammals to produce venom.The venom is made in venom glands that are connected to hollow spurs on their hind legs; it is primarily made during the mating season. [1]
The spurs have enough strength to support the weight of the platypus, which often hangs from the victim, requiring assistance for removal. Most of the evidence now supports the proposition that the venom system is used by males on one another as a weapon when competing for females, taking part in sexual selection .
Male platypuses have sharp spurs on their back legs shaped like a canine tooth. These hollow spurs measure 0.59 to 0.71 inches long and connect to crural glands in the animal’s upper thighs.
This list deals exclusively with venomous animals. Venoms have adapted to serve a wide variety of purposes. Their intended effects can range from mild fleeting discomfort to paralysis and death, and they may be highly selective in which species they target, often making them harmless to all but a few specific organisms; what may be fatal to one ...
Despite their awkward appearance, the platypus has a superpower-like sixth sense that it uses to hunt They are such an unusual mammal that the first scientists to study them believed they were the ...
The echidna spurs are vestigial and have no known function, while the platypus spurs contain venom. [42] Molecular data show that the main component of platypus venom emerged before the divergence of platypus and echidnas, suggesting that the most recent common ancestor of these taxa was also possibly a venomous monotreme. [43]
A stinger (or sting) is a sharp organ found in various animals (typically insects and other arthropods) capable of injecting venom, usually by piercing the epidermis of another animal. An insect sting is complicated by its introduction of venom , although not all stings are venomous.
If you are bitten by a snake, here’s what you should do: Stay calm and call 911 or the Georgia Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222. Try to identify the snake by looking at its colors, pattern and ...