Solenodons and venomous shrews diverged from a common ancestor more than 70 million years ago.
Sources
- Unravelling the venomous bite of an endangered mammal | ScienceDaily (sciencedaily.com)
- https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1906117116 (pnas.org)
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31772017/ (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6926037/ (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6009670/ (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
More in Nature
- WWF's report on 234 new species in the Greater Mekong was published on December 16, 2024.
- The expansion of white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease affecting bats, into the Pacific Northwest is centered in western Washington.
- The mollusk species Veleropilina gretchenae was recovered from the Aleutian Trench at a depth of 6,465 meters.
- Governor Laffan's Fern (Diplazium laffanianum) is classified as Extinct in the Wild, having last been seen in 1905 after human habitat destruction and introduction of invasive species.
- Wombat feces are cube-shaped, with researchers confirming this results from the unique elasticity of their intestines, not diet—helping mark territory without rolling away.
- Brazil's government has prohibited public access to Ilha de Queimada Grande, known as 'Snake Island,' due to the large number of snakes living there.