8 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 2: January 1978 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Hedgehogs Use Toad Venom For Defense European hedgehogs chew toad skins to extract venom from the paratoid glands. They then lick their spines with the saliva-venom mixture. Experiments with human volunteers prove that the venomanointed spines are much more painful and irritating than clean ones. Such hedgehog behavior is innate and fully developed before the juveniles leave the nest. Tenrecs, which are similar to hedgehogs but in an entirely different family, display a somewhat different self-anointing type of behavior that must have developed independently. Conclusion: self-anointing with toad venom is so useful that it developed twice under evolutionary pressures. (Brodie, Edmund D., Jr.; "Hedgehogs Use Toad Venom in Their Own Defense," Nature, 268:627, 1977.) Reference. Hedgehog anointing and other idiosyncrasies may be found in Chapter BMB in Biological Anomalies: Mammals I. This book is described here . From Science Frontiers #2 , January 1978 . 1978-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 125 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf002/sf002p05.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 40: Jul-Aug 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Glitch in the evolution of funnelweb spider venom?The Australian funnelweb spider has a venom that appears to be effective only against humans, monkeys, baby rats, and fruit flies. None of these animals is normally on the spider's menu; those prey that are seem unaffected by the venom. Did the evolution of the poison miss its intended targets or did the spider's usual prey evolve resistance? It is interesting that mature rats are immune to the venom, although neonatal rats are not. (Anonymous; "Did You Know?" Ex Ni hilo, 7:16, no. 3, 1985.) Facts taken from The Australian Doctor, January 20, 1984.) From Science Frontiers #40, JUL-AUG 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 102 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf040/sf040p09.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 115: Jan-Feb 1998 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects A Strangely Selective Spider Australia's funnel web spider is one of the world's deadliest. Before an antivenin became available, this species killed one human every four years. It is not this low death rate that impels us to mention this spider. It is because the bite of the funnel web is deadly only to insects and humans. All other mammals are said to be immune. Analysis of the venom yields the remarkable fact that it consists of 45 active compounds. One of these is specific to insect brain cells; another, to human nerve cells. (da Silva, Wilson; "Spider Gives Kiss of Death to Pests," New Scientist, p. 23, May 17, 1997.) Comment. Since humans are not on the funnel web's menu, it must be only a coincidence that its venom kills people so selectively. It would be nice to know if chimps, gorillas, and orangs really are immune. A related phenomenon is seen in the venoms of cone shells. These snails are much more dangerous to humans, particularly naive shell collectors. Their venoms are extraordinarily complex and contain hundreds, perhaps thousands, of toxins. Many of these are specific to potential prey. Once again, humans are not on the menu but are included anyway. (Concar, David; "Doctor Snail," New Scientist, p. 26, October 19, 1996.) Comment. ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 65 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf115/sf115p05.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 127: Jan-Feb 2000 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Stoned Dogs When Australian dog owners see their pets come home frothing at the mouth and disoriented, they know they have a drug problem -- not coke or pot but toads! The ugly, venomous cane toad. Cane toads are consummate pests in Queensland. Their venom is so powerful that would-be predators avoid them. Early on, domestic dogs gave them a wide berth, too. Then, somehow, one dog discovered that by gently mouthing a cane toad, it acquired just enough venom to give it a high. Just how, we don't know, but in some way the word was passed around the canine world, and toad-mouthing became widespread. Some dogs are so hooked that they sneak out at night for quick fixes and even ignore their food dish. (Anonymous; "Feedback," New Scientist, p. 96, July 24, 1999.) From Science Frontiers #127, JAN-FEB 2000 . 1997 William R. Corliss ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 34 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf127/sf127p08.htm
... -Bang Reproduction (Semelparity) in Mammals BMF26 Unusual Deaths of Mammals BMF27 Longevity Increased by Radiation and Hunger Sperm Competition Ear Regeneration BMG GENETICS BMG1 Discordances between Phylogenies Established from Visible Traits and Biochemistry BMG2 Closely Related Mammals with Different Chromosome Numbers BMG3 Evolution Rates That Are Much Higher Than Predicted from Genetics BMG4 Unexplained Rapid Evolution in Inbred Mice BMG5 Species with Cells Containing "Alien" Mitochondria BMG6 Paternal Mitochondrial DNA can Be Inherited in Mammals BMG7 Functions of "Knocked-Out" Genes Not Completely Lost BMG8 Armadillo "Identical" Quadruplets Are Not Early Deaths of Clones Oliver Is a Chimp DNA in Food Enters Cells of the Eaters Rabbits Surprisingly Closely Related to Primates Guinea Pigs Are Not Rodents Mammals Coexisted with Dinosaurs Epigenetic Inheritance in Mice BMI INTERNAL SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES BMI1 Inheritance of Acquired Immunological Tolerance BMI2 Immunity to Rattlesnake Venom BMI3 Tropical Mammals with Thick Subcutaneous Fat BMI4 Curiosities of Mammalian Urogenital Systems BMI5 Reversal of Viscera BMI6 Fundamental Differences between Micro- and Megabat Neural Pathways BMI7 Evolution without Associated Increases in the Complexity of Vertebral Columns BMI8 Magnetite in Mammals Remarkable Dolphin Heat Exchangers Infant Marsupial Mice Breathe through Skin BMO ORGANS BMO1 High Complexity and Sophistication of the Mammalian Eye BMO2 Blindsight BMO3 Remarkable Adaptations of Mammalian Eyes BMO4 The Purposeful Emission of Sound by Mammalian Ears BMO5 Mammals Apparently Sensitive to Barometric Pressure BMO6 Complexity and Sophistication of Some Microbat Ears BMO7 Innovation and Adaptation in the Auditory Subsystems of Echolocating Cetaceans BMO8 Repeated Development of Electrosensitivity in Mammals BMO9 Parallelisms in the Tongues and Teeth of Specialized Feeders BMO10 Innovations in Sound-Generating Organs BMO11 Absence of REM Sleep in Echidnas BMO12 Repeated Independent Development of a Key Part of the Carnivore Brain ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 16 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /cat-biol.htm
... with approximately 850,000 electrical and tactile receptors? These are far more sophisticated than those found in fish. When the platypus goes foraging underwater, a furry groove closes, covering its eyes and ears, and the nostrils on the bill are sealed shut. It becomes a high-tech predator -- despite all those snide remarks about its primitive nature. The poison spurs on the back legs of the male platypus are nothing to fool around with. They can cause humans severe pain and weeks of paralysis. And a dog can lose its life when a platypus clamps its legs around its muzzle and drives in its spurs. But, ask evolutionists, how did this poison apparatus get on the hind legs? The supposed ancestors of the platypus, the reptiles, modified their salivary glands for venom delivery. How did the platypusses break from this evolutionary mold and innovate? It's not consistent with the text! The fossil record reveals that a platypus-like creature lived long before the Age of Mammals. These early platypusses had teeth in the adult phase, whereas their modern relatives replace their baby teeth with horny plates -- another innovation. Therefore, far from being a hodgepodge of parts left over from bird and reptile evolution, the platypus has actually pioneered several zoological features. Very curious is the fact that the platypus is in many ways like the beaver -- a very, very distant relative both in distance and position on the Tree of Life. Both platypus and beaver are furry, aquatic creatures with webbed feet and a large, flat tail. We have saved ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 2: January 1978 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology The Stone Enigmas of New England Astronomy Sun-Earth-Moon System May Not Be Stable Changes in Solar Rotation Biology Hopeful Monsters Rather Than Gradual Evolution? Hedgehogs Use Toad Venom for Defense Blind Man Runs on Lunar Time Infections From Comets Geology Will Radiohalos in Coalified Wood Upset Geological Clocks? How Real Are Biological Extinctions in the Fossil Record? Geophysics Another Indian Ocean Light Wheel Ghostly White Disk and Light Beam in Sky Fast-moving Dark Bands Cross Halo The Morning Glory Giant Ball Lightning Psychology Does Man Survive Death? ...
Terms matched: 1 - Score: 14 - 15 May 2017 - URL: /sf002/index.htm
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 40: Jul-Aug 1985 Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues Last Issue Next Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Contents Archaeology Standing-stone Cluster in Eastern Massachusetts Megalithic Recycling Astronomy Planets As Sun-triggered Lasers Neptune's Arcs: Embryonic Moons? Next Let Us Consider Uranus What is It? A Black Hole, of Course! Biology Nessie Photos Not Retouched Frog Mothers Do So Care! Glitch in the Evolution of Funnelweb Spider Venom? Circadian Rhythms and Chemotherapy Genetic Code Not Universal! Geology Back to Guadeloupe Again Galapagos Younger Than Thought Libyan Desert Glass May Not Be the Product of Impacts. Geophysics Quakes and UFOs Vanishing Goo Multiple Whirlwind Patterns Psychology Mnemonism Not So Easy! Hypnotic Misrecall Chemistry & Physics Fruitfulness of Math Not An Intimation of A Transcendent Mind! The Most Profound Discovery of Science Messengers of A "new Physics" Double Nuclei At Darmstadt ...
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