Posted on 06/27/2005 7:29:02 AM PDT by phoenix_004
A small, fossilized mammal had what appears to be poisonous fangs that allowed it to bite like a snake – the first such find in an extinct mammal, Canadian researchers say.
Vertebrate paleontologist Richard Fox of the University of Alberta in Edmonton found the specimen in 1991. Now Fox and his research team say the extinct, mouse-sized creature was built to deliver venom.
The fossil specimen, Bisonalveus browni, is shown in this recent handout photo. (CP photo) The world is home to few living mammals with venom delivery systems: the duck-billed platypus, the Caribbean solenodon, and a few rat-like shrews.
Scientists concluded that mammals long ago lost the ability to release venom to defend themselves or find food, given how few mammalian species still use the strategy.
The 60-million-year-old fossil of the mouse-sized creature, called Bisonalveus browni, has a deep groove in its upper canine. The length of the tooth may have allowed it to act like a piercing fang, like those found in modern venomous snakes.
"Our discoveries therefore show that mammals have been much more flexible in the evolution of [venom delivery systems] than previously believed," the team concluded in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
The fossil teeth were found at two sites in the Paskapoo Formation of central Alberta, an area rich in well-preserved mammalian fossils.
The study shows how even after scientists work on a research project for years, uncovering one small piece of information can lead to new discoveries, Fox said.
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the University of Alberta sponsored the research.
Vermin with venom? Sounds like today's 'rats!
Evolved in to lawyers no doubt.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Interesting.
Rat probably just had cavities.
Exactly.
Mammal with venom rare?....
Obviously you have never met the X
The fossil specimen, Bisonalveus browni, is shown in this recent handout photo. (CP photo)
TECHNICALLY, it is a mammal, just like TECHNICALLY Hillary and Bill are Americans and Human...but that's as FAR as it goes.
Cryptotis parva: One defense used by Least Shrews is their saliva. It has venom in it.
Yes, interesting. But I donno if I should ping the list for this. Seeking input.
I'm sure Vade would be interested in this, which is why I pinged him, too. So you're off the hook if you don't think it's one for the list.
Your call on this one. :-)
Looks good to me. A real troll magnet.
Venomous mammals are not extinct. There are plenty of them in Congress, the MSM and university faculties.
"A small, fossilized mammal had what appears to be poisonous fangs that allowed it to bite like a snake – the first such find in an extinct mammal"
It's nonsense, everyone knows that other than asteroids only humans cause extinctions.
The solenodon, a relatively large (for an insectivore), shrew-like mammal found in Cuba and Haiti, also delivers venom through a groove in its tooth. It's considered a living fossil, that last surviving member of a family which dates back to the Creatacous but I don't know if it's related to the critter described in the article.
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