The only poisonous one. The only poisonous mammal in the world: truth and fiction

Some animals have the amazing ability to kill with toxic chemicals or poison. This method is considered one of the most cowardly, insidious and effective. In this article, you will discover 11 poisonous animals in the world that can easily kill an adult human.

There are "passively" venomous animals (which transfer their venom when eaten or attacked by other animals) and "actively" venomous animals (which inject venom into their prey using stingers, fangs, or other devices.

Most Venomous Amphibian: Dread Leaf Climber

It lives only in the rainforests of the western part of Colombia. The poison of one frog can kill 10 to 20 people. (Only one kind of snake Liophis epinephelus, is resistant to the venom of the dread leaf climber, however, if exposed to a sufficiently large amount of the toxin, the reptile may die).

Interestingly, the terrible leafcreeper produces poison from its diet of native ants and beetles; individuals kept in captivity and feeding on fruit flies and other common insects are completely harmless.

Most Venomous Spider: Brazilian Wandering Spider

If you suffer from arachnophobia (fear of spiders), there is good and bad news for you about Brazilian wandering spiders. The good news is that these spiders live in the tropics of South America, and do not always inject a full dose of poison during a bite, and also rarely attack people; even better news is that an effective antidote (if administered quickly) avoids death. The bad news is that spider venom contains powerful neurotoxins that slowly paralyze and suffocate their victims, even in microscopic doses.

Men bitten by Brazilian wandering spiders often experience painful erections.

Most Venomous Snake: McCoy's Taipan

The venom of this Australian snake is the most powerful among land snakes. Toxic substances contained in one individual can kill hundreds of adults. (Its venom consists of neurotoxins, hemotoxins, mycotoxins, and nephrotoxins. This means it can dissolve your blood, brain, muscles, and kidneys before you hit the ground.) Fortunately, this venomous snake rarely comes into contact with humans, and even when that happens (if you know how to interact with her), she becomes quite meek and easy to tame.

Most Poisonous Fish: Warthog

This fish lives in shallow waters in the South Pacific. It looks ominous, like a stone or a piece of coral (disguise is meant to protect against predators) and if stepped on, the wart injects a powerful dose of toxins into the human foot.

The Australian authorities are actively replenishing stocks of antidotes, so there is a high probability of saving lives (provided that the antidote is administered in a timely manner).

Most Poisonous Insect: Maricopa Ant

Ants Maricopa ( Pogonomyrmex maricopa) are quite dangerous insects. About 300 bites from these ants can cause death in an adult. Their venom is much stronger than that of hornets and honey bees. One bite of such an ant causes acute pain that lasts about 4 hours.

Fortunately, it is nearly impossible to accidentally step on a Maricopa ant colony and receive hundreds of stings; these insects are known to build nests with a diameter of about 9 m and a height of up to 2 m!

Most poisonous jellyfish: Sea wasp

Box jellyfish (jellyfish, characterized by a rectangular bell shape) are by far the most dangerous invertebrates in the world, and the sea wasp ( Chironex fleckeri) is considered the most poisonous species of jellyfish on the planet. The tentacles of the sea wasp are covered with nematocytes, stinging cells that, on contact, cause burns.

Most people who come into contact with the tentacles of a sea wasp experience excruciating pain, but a close encounter with a member of this species can kill you in five minutes.

Most venomous mammal: Platypus

Of course, the poison of a platypus will not cause the death of a person, but it will bring severe pain and swelling. Its venom can kill small animals. On the hind limbs of males there are spurs (about 15 mm long) that contain poison. Most often, males use these spurs to fight each other during the breeding season.

Other poisonous mammals are: 3 species from the shrew family and the Cuban flint tooth ( Solenodon cubanus).

Most Poisonous Clam: Marble Cone

If you have never had to use the phrase "predatory sea snail", then you obviously do not know enough marine animals that can kill you with a single bite. This mollusk is able to paralyze its prey (including other snails of the genus Conus) with a toxic poison that can easily kill a careless person.

Unfortunately, no one has ever calculated how much poison can harm an adult.

Most poisonous bird: Bicolor thrush flycatcher

The two-colored thrush flycatcher from New Guinea contains a powerful poison called batrachotoxin. It is found in the skin and feathers of birds, and can cause mild numbness and tingling in humans, but is much more dangerous for small animals. (Apparently, thrush flycatchers synthesize poison from beetles that are part of their diet (these beetles are also included in the diet of poison dart frogs).

Another well-known poisonous bird is the common quail, whose meat (if the bird has consumed a plant of a certain species) can lead to a non-fatal disease for humans called "cothurnism".

Most poisonous octopus: Blue-ringed octopus

Blue-ringed octopuses live in the Indian and Pacific oceans and are quite modest in size (the largest individuals rarely exceed 20 cm). Their bite is virtually painless, but the venom causes paralysis and can kill an adult human in just a few minutes.

Currently, there is no antidote for the bite of the blue-ringed octopus.

Most poisonous turtle: Bissa

Unlike some of the other animals on this list, the hawksbill turtle is not miniature: adults weigh around 80kg, about the same as the average human. These turtles are distributed throughout the world, and individuals from Southeast Asia that eat toxic algae have poisonous meat that can cause poisoning in humans (poisoning symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and other intestinal ailments).

These turtles are endangered and protected by law.

Everyone has heard of poisonous plants, spiders or snakes. But have you heard of poisonous mammals? This question is more difficult...

According to paleontologists, millions of years ago, our planet was inhabited by a large number of poisonous mammals. Experts came to this conclusion after the remains of a prehistoric animal known as the bisonalveus brownie, who lived about 60 million years ago, were partially reconstructed. It was found that the lower fangs were endowed with special channels through which poison penetrated the body of the victim.

Only a few species of poisonous mammals, which are considered side branches of evolution, have survived to this day.

Outwardly, the shaggy hamster looks like a porcupine rather than a rodent, since its back, along the ridge, is decorated with a stiff bristly mane. The shaggy hamster lives in the forests of East Africa. The mammal leads a nocturnal lifestyle, stays in burrows during the day, and makes forays at night in search of food - leaves, fruits, young roots and shoots.

The shaggy hamster is a rather slow animal, so it defends itself from predators with cunning tricks. Firstly, it has odorous glands on its sides that emit a specific pungent odor in case of danger. Secondly, the shaggy hamster has a mane that rises, which makes it very similar to a porcupine. Thirdly, rodent hair is poisonous. As it turned out, the hamster rips off the toxic bark of the Abyssinian acokanthera tree (Acokanthera shimperi) and lubricates its fur with it. One contact with the hair of a hamster is enough to cause severe poisoning, and later death.

Platypus

Perhaps everyone knows this ridiculous animal - a kind of pinniped beaver with a wide duck beak. However, the platypus surprises not only with its outlandish appearance. This is one of the few poisonous mammals.

At a young age, males and females of the platypus have horny processes - spurs - on their hind legs. In females, they disappear over time, while in males, on the contrary, they become stronger and continue to grow. At the time of puberty, the spurs will fill with a mixture of poisons. The poison is able to kill a wolf, a fox or a wild dog, it is less dangerous for humans - the toxin will only cause severe pain and swelling of damaged tissues.

slow loris

Everyone knows that there are poisonous snakes, insects, spiders, many have heard of poisonous fish, plants, but few people know that there are also poisonous mammals. The first mammals on Earth, at least some of them, were poisonous. This conclusion, which allows a fresh look at the theory of evolution, was made by paleontologists from the University of the Canadian province of Alberta. The researchers were able to partially reconstruct from the fossilized remains the skull and lower jaw of a small predatory mammal, known by the Latin name "bisonalveus brownie", who lived in North America and became extinct more than 60 million years ago. It has been established that the lower fangs of the fossil animal had special grooves through which poison was injected into the body of the victim.

To this day, only a few species of poisonous animals have survived, representing lateral, "random" branches of evolution.

American short-tailed shrew

American short-tailed shrews are a group of relatively large, venomous shrews with relatively short tails found in North America. The saliva of these animals is toxic and is used to kill prey (for example, they attack snakes). Her poison is produced in the submandibular salivary gland, and when bitten, it enters the wound of the victim. By acting on the nervous system of the prey, it allows these small animals (the body length of the American short-tailed shrew is 8–10 cm, and the weight is 15–30 g) to cope with animals that are larger than them.

Haitian flint tooth

The Haitian flint is found exclusively on the island of Haiti. Their poisonous apparatus somewhat resembles that of a snake: toxic saliva is produced by the submandibular salivary gland; the duct of the gland opens at the base of the deep groove (cleft) of the second lower incisor. Paradoxically, the sloth teeth are not immune to their own poison and die even from light bites received during fights among themselves. The slittooths are few in number and are included in the international Red Book with the status of "threatened with extinction." The reason for this is the low rate of reproduction, combined with the destruction of the habitual habitat (forests) and the attacks of introduced predators: rats, dogs, cats, and especially. Prior to European colonization, the sandtooths had almost no natural enemies, so they did not develop defenses against predators; they are rather slow and clumsy, and in danger sometimes simply freeze instead of fleeing. The Haitian flint is rapidly dying out; the Cuban was thought to be extinct until a live specimen was caught in 2003. Another Haitian flint tooth, Solenodon marcanoi, is known only from skeletal bones; obviously, it died out at the beginning of the European colonization of the island.

Platypus

Young platypuses of both sexes have rudiments of horn spurs on their hind legs. In females, by the age of one year, they fall off, while in males they continue to grow, reaching 1.2-1.5 cm in length by the time of puberty. Each spur is connected by a duct to the femoral gland, which during the mating season produces a complex "cocktail" of poisons. Males use spurs during courtship fights. Platypus venom can kill a dingo or other small animal. For a person, it is generally not fatal, but it causes very severe pain, and edema develops at the injection site, which gradually spreads to the entire limb. Pain (hyperalgesia) can last for many days or even months.

Wise Mother Nature endowed some animals with considerable physical strength and sharp teeth, which serve as a means of protection from enemies (or are used to obtain food). Others use the strongest poisons as weapons when attacking prey or for defense. A striking example is the platypus that lives in Eastern Australia and on the island of Tasmania. This animal is often called the only venomous mammal in the world. Is it really? Let's find out!

The very fact that the platypus is dangerous already seems incredible. After all, he looks surprisingly harmless. It has a soft, duck-like beak and a beaver-like tail. The body is covered with thick fur. Interestingly, the platypus lays and incubates eggs like a bird, but feeds its young with milk.

However, no matter how cute the platypus is, it is still worth fearing. This applies mainly to male platypuses. These creatures have special glands that secrete poison, and they are located near the thighs. Through the tubes, the poison comes from the glands to a special process on the hind legs. During the mating season, male platypuses use it to fight rivals. Platypus venom can kill small animals.

Is the platypus the only venomous mammal in the world? The answer is definitely no! Poisonous mammals, in addition to the platypus, are, of course, extremely few on Earth, nevertheless they exist. Among them are some types of shrews: short-tailed shrew and water (common) shrew. The latter, by the way, lives on the banks of Russian reservoirs.

There is also another animal on Earth that secretes poison and is periodically erroneously referred to as the only poisonous mammal in the world. The name of this creature is not familiar to many. This is a sand tooth - the owner of toxic saliva, which, paradoxically, is capable of killing him. Such incidents occur, as a rule, during fights between relatives. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to meet this animal, as the sand tooth is in the lead in the lists of endangered species.

As you can see, the platypus is not the only venomous mammal in the world, although it is undeniably very interesting. Speaking of interesting things - get to know these representatives of the terrestrial fauna, which are recognized as the most poisonous!

The most poisonous animals in the world - who are they?

The rock fish will never compete in a beauty pageant, but it has gained worldwide fame as the most venomous fish. It contains its venom in spikes on its back. Toxic substances are a means of defense against predators. Stone fish lives in the tropical climate of the Pacific and Indian oceans.

The box jellyfish secretes the most deadly poison in the world, which affects the cardiovascular and nervous systems, and the skin. It causes hellish pain. The box jellyfish lives in the seas of Asia and Australia.

The king cobra is the longest venomous snake in the world, measuring over five meters in length. She eats other snakes. One bite from a cobra can kill a person. This snake can destroy even an elephant. can release a lot of poison at a time, 5-6 times more than other poisonous snakes. It is often found in Asian mountain forests.

Leirus scorpions are the most dangerous species of scorpions, as their deadly venom has a strong paralyzing effect. Leiruses live in and in the Middle East.

The genus Taipan includes two species, the coastal taipan and the fierce snake. A single bite from a coastal taipan contains poison that can kill over a hundred people or over two hundred thousand mice. It is extremely neurotoxic, but there is an antidote. Taipans are mostly found in Australia.

Drevolaz, or lives in Central and South America. It is very bright and attractive, but in no case should you take it in your hands. Previously, the Indians smeared arrowheads with frog poison.

He got into the list of champions, because more people died through his fault than because of other representatives of arachnids. These spiders are also dangerous in their behavior, as they are constantly on the move and do not weave a web, but travel on the ground. They can be found everywhere: in buildings and cars, on clothes and shoes, so the risk of being bitten unexpectedly increases.

The blue ringed octopus is a small but highly venomous animal that lives off the coast of Australia. If no immediate action is taken after the bite, then the person will have problems with breathing, speech and vision. After that, paralysis and death can occur.

The ball fish, or fugu, ranks second among the most poisonous vertebrates on earth after the poison dart frog. An interesting fact is that puffer meat is considered a delicacy in the countries of the Rising Sun, but it is important to remember that the skin of the fish and some of its internal organs contain poison. The most poisonous animals in Russia live in the south of the country. It is also necessary to beware of gyurza, their bite is deadly. The most common venomous snake in Russia is the viper.