Spitting cobras' venom contains an additional group of toxins called phospholipases A2, which together with cytotoxins create a synergistic effect producing instant pain.
Sources
- Spitting Cobra venom reveals how evolution often finds the same answer to a common problem | ScienceDaily (sciencedaily.com)
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abb9303 (science.org)
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33479150/ (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- https://www.science.org/content/article/spitting-cobras-venom-evolved-inflict-pain (science.org)
- https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/proteomics/cobra-evolved-spit/99/web/2021/02 (cen.acs.org)
More in Nature
- Orangutan populations living on opposite sides of a large river differed in 60% of their dietary preferences, despite greater dietary homogeneity within each population.
- Solenodon venom consists of multiple kallikrein-1 serine proteases.
- The Bwindi-Sarambwe ecosystem, covering 83,840 acres (33,928 hectares), is home to 459 mountain gorillas, up from an estimated 400 individuals in 2011.
- Black rhino numbers fell from about 100,000 in the mid-20th century to fewer than 2,400 due to unregulated hunting, poaching, and habitat loss.
- The oceanic manta ray was uplisted from Vulnerable to Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2020.
- The Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) is a member of the eulipotyphlan order of mammals, which also includes hedgehogs, moles, and shrews.