A new research has thrown up interesting insights on how the ‘predators factor’ plays a key role in the rapid toxin evolution in venomous snakes.
Although some mammals have long been known to eat venomous snakes, this fact has not been factored into previous explanations for the rapid evolution of snake venom. Instead, snake venom is usually seen as a feeding, or trophic, adaptation.
“Snake venom toxins evolve incredibly rapidly,” says Robert Voss, curator in the Department of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History. “Most herpetologists interpret this as evidence that venom in snakes evolves because of interactions with their prey, but if that were true you would see equally rapid evolution in toxin-targeted molecules of prey species, which has not yet been seen. What we’ve found is that a venom-targeted protein is evolving rapidly in mammals that eat snakes. That suggests that venom has a defensive as well as a trophic role,” he added.
ADVERTISEMENT
The study was recently published in PLoS One.