A moose struck by lightning
Most mammals, including humans, rely on carbohydrates and fats from their complex diets to fuel physical activity. However, vampire bats exclusively consume blood, which is very low in carbohydrates and fats but high in protein. This raises the question of whether vampire bats instead obtain most of their energy from the protein they consume — similar to bloodsucking insects.
There are three vampire bat species: the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), the hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata) and the white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi). All are found in warm regions of the Americas, including Mexico, South America and Trinidad, according to the San Diego Zoo. They live in colonies of 20 to 100 individuals and are the only mammals that are obligate blood feeders.
Greater short-horned lizards have a squat, flat shape and short snouts, which makes them look more like amphibians than reptiles — hence the nickname "horny toads." But these lizards are most famous for their unusual defense mechanism: When threatened, they squirt a stream of blood from their eyes up to a distance of 5 feet (1.5 meters).
The blood is laced with toxic chemicals, which may come from the venomous harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex) that the lizards eat. Although their blood isn’t poisonous, it tastes unpleasant to predators. Short-horned lizards aren't affected by the venom of the harvester ants they feed on because a chemical in their blood plasma neutralizes it. They also produce large amounts of mucus to immobilize the insects, enabling the lizards to swallow them without getting hurt by the venom. Read More »
The inland taipan is one of the most venomous snakes, according to the International Journal of Neuropharmacology, meaning just a teensy bit of its venom can kill prey (or human victims). They live tucked away in the clay crevices of Queensland and South Australia's floodplains, often within the pre-dug burrows of other animals. Living in more remote locations than the coastal taipan, the inland taipan rarely comes into contact with humans, the Australian Museum reported. When the taipan does feel threatened, the snake coils its body into a tight S-shape before darting out in one quick bite or multiple bites. A main ingredient of this venom, which sets it apart from other species, is the hyaluronidase enzyme. According to a 2020 issue of Toxins journal (Novel Strategies for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Snakebites Read More »
You could be bitten multiple times before becoming aware of the coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus), thanks to its incredible speed, according to the Australian Museum. When threatened, this snake, which lives in the wet forests of temperate and tropical coastal regions, will lift its whole body off the ground as it jumps fangs-first with extraordinary precision and injects venom into its enemy. Before 1956, when an effective antivenom was produced, this snake's bite was nearly always fatal, according to Australian Geographic. The snake's venom contains neurotoxins, which prevent nerve transmission.
The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world's longest venomous snake, measuring up to 18 feet (5.4 m), according to the Natural History Museum in London. The snake's impressive eyesight allows it to spot a moving person from nearly 330 feet (100 m) away, according to the Smithsonian Institution. When threatened, a king cobra will use special ribs and muscles in its neck to flare out its "hood" or the skin around its head; these snakes can also lift their heads off the ground about a third of their body length, according to the San Diego Zoo. Its claim to fame is not so much the potency of its venom, but rather the amount injected into victims: Each bite delivers about 7 milliliters (about 0.24 fluid ounces) of venom, and the snake tends to attack with three or four bites in quick Read More »
The banded krait (Bungarus fasciatus) is a slow mover during the day and is much more likely to bite after dark. The snake's venom can paralyze muscles and prevent the diaphragm from moving, according to a 2016 study published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. This stops air from entering the lungs, effectively resulting in suffocation
The saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) is the smallest member of the "Big Four" in India — along with Russell's viper, the common krait (Bungarus caeruleus) and the Indian cobra (Naja naja) — thought to be responsible for the most bites and related deaths in the country. Along with their fellow vipers, the Russel's viper and the pit viper, these nondescript little reptiles may be responsible for about 58,000 deaths a year in India alone.
It's hard to get accurate estimates, as many people who are bitten by snakes live in regions with poor medical care and never report their encounters with the deadly reptiles. But around 58,000 deaths in India are attributed to snake bites every year, and the Russell's viper (Daboia russelii) is responsible for the majority of these mortalities, according to research published March 25, 2021, in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. This species is considered one of the most deadly of the true vipers, researchers reported in 2021 in the journal Toxins.
About 24 hours after being bitten on the thumb by a juvenile boomslang (also called a South African green tree snake), herpetologist Karl Patterson Schmidt died from internal bleeding from his eyes, lungs, kidneys, heart and brain, researchers reported in 2017 in the journal Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. The snake had been sent to Schmidt at The Field Museum in Chicago for identification. Like others in the field at the time (1890), Schmidt believed that rear-fanged snakes like the boomslang (Dispholidus typus) couldn't produce a venom dose big enough to be fatal to humans. They were wrong.
