According to statistics, there are 1.5 million species of animals on the earth. In order to thrive on this beautiful planet, each animal has its own unique secret weapon. There is a group of animals that are the masters of poison in the animal kingdom, making them intimidating to predators. Among them, there are five animals that use poison at their peak. Let us get to know them together today. If we encounter them in the future, we must stay away from them.
No. 5 cone snail
1, morphological characteristics
The beautiful cone snail
cone snail, also known as " cone snail ", because some of their shapes are like chicken hearts and some are like taro, hence the name. They have an extremely beautiful appearance. Whenever seafarers see them, they can't help but pick them up and play with them. Then tragedy occurs.
Cone cone snails have a thin front end and a thick rear end. At first glance, they look like ordinary screws. But they have a unique "harpoon", which is modified from radula and hidden in a long tubular beak. Whenever prey passes by, the cone snail will shoot a "harpoon" filled with venom from its beak, and the venom will instantly paralyze the prey. Finally, the cone snail will drag the prey into its mouth with a harpoon and eat it. This is very similar to how we humans harpoon fish.
The protrusion in the upper right corner is the beak of the cone snail.
2. Population status
There are about 500 kinds of cone snails in the world. They are widely distributed in tropical seas, on coastal beaches and near coral reefs. They can often be seen on coastal beaches and near coral reefs. It is mostly distributed in Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan and Taiwan provinces in my country. It is distributed abroad in Australia, Africa, New Zealand , Japan and other countries that are geographically close to the equator.
3. Deadly venom
The venom contained in one cone snail can kill 10 people.
The venom in cone snails contains hundreds of different ingredients, which are all neurotoxins , collectively called conotoxins . The mechanism of action of these toxins is to quickly block the information transmitted by of the nervous system. Because the body cannot receive the information transmitted by the brain, it leads to general paralysis and eventually death from poisoning.
Among the more than 500 kinds of cone snails, the most toxic one is the "cigar snail". That is to say, once poisoned, the person will have to wait for death without effective treatment after smoking a cigar.
No. 4 Golden Poison Dart Frog
Cute Golden Poison Dart Frog
1. Morphological characteristics
The Golden Poison Dart Frog is almost yellow in color, hence its name. They are very small, the largest one is only 5 inches long. They are the most poisonous of all poison dart frogs . An interesting phenomenon is that the poison in their bodies is not innate, but they obtain it by eating other poisonous small animals. If a poison dart frog is raised in captivity and is poison-free, their body is not poisonous.
Because of the highly toxic nature of their bodies, they have no natural enemies except humans.
2. Population status
The golden poison dart frog is a type of poison dart frog and is mainly distributed in tropical rainforests, including Brazil, Guyana, Colombia and Central America. They have a total of 6-8 genera and 130-170 species. The local indigenous people use their venom to make weapons to hunt or kill enemies.
Indigenous poison
Due to human destruction of rainforests, climate change, pollution and other factors, the living space of poison dart frogs is constantly shrinking, and one-third of the species has been included in the Red List of Endangered Species.
3. Deadly venom
The toxin contained in the body of a golden poison dart frog can cause the death of 10 people within 3 minutes.
According to research, the venom component of the golden poison dart frog is a toxin called steroid. Its mechanism of action is that when toxins enter the axon part of the nerve fiber, the axonal part will be permanently depolarized, causing the material in the body to be unable to be transported normally and destroying the acid-base balance in the body. The body eventually becomes due to Death from immobility.
The third species Blue-ringed octopus
The warning blue-ringed octopus
1, morphological characteristics
This is a very small octopus species, with its tentacles only 15 cm long. Curled up, the body is about the size of a golf ball . The blue-ringed octopus has a yellowish-brown body and is named after its glowing blue rings.
Normally, the body of the blue-ringed octopus is yellow-brown. When they encounter danger, the rings on their bodies glow bright blue to warn each other. Of course, apart from hunting, they generally do not actively attack humans.
2. Population status
Blue-ringed octopus is widely distributed in the Pacific waters between Japan and Australia, and also in the Indian Ocean . They are relatively shy and usually come out at night. They mainly feed on small fish, shrimps and crabs.
Because it is distributed deep in the ocean, it is usually hidden relatively deep, and the population has not encountered crisis.
3. Deadly venom
The venom contained in one blue-ringed octopus can kill 26 people.
The main components of their toxins are tetrodotoxin, a serum toxin, acetylcholine and dopamine. These toxins are derived from a bacterium in the salivary glands of the blue-ringed octopus. Tetrodotoxin is the same as the toxin in puffer fish. The toxin can paralyze the central nervous system and nerve endings of , causing massive bleeding, tingling, fever, difficulty breathing, and eventually death.
Although the toxin of the blue-ringed octopus is very powerful, there is little overlap with the living area of ​​​​humans, so there is basically no news about blue-ringed octopuses killing people.
Type 2 Box jellyfish
Beautiful box jellyfish
1, morphological characteristics
Box jellyfish, one of the most poisonous creatures in the ocean. Also called cubic jellyfish, they are named because they belong to the class Cubicjellyfish, and because they look like boxes, they are called box jellyfish. They polyps are small in size, while jellyfish are large in size. They spiral forward by spraying water jets from their bodies. They have two eyes on each side of their body that can sense changes in light. They have more than 60 strip-like tentacles, which contain highly toxic substances.
2. Population status
Box jellyfish mainly live in the coastal waters of northeastern Australia. They mainly prey on fish and small sea crabs. Because of their highly toxic nature, they have almost no natural enemies.
3. Deadly venom
One box of jellyfish contains venom that can kill 60 people.
When box jellyfish find prey, they will quickly float over, wrap their tentacles tightly around the prey, and spray venom at the same time. Once the venom is sprayed onto a person's body, many bright red blood marks will appear on the skin, and death will be declared within two to three minutes.
Well, the mechanism of venom is not very clear yet. What is known is that the venom will pass through the human body, quickly damage the heart, disrupt the beating of the heart, lead to difficulty in blood supply, and eventually rapid death.
No. 1 Inland Taipan snake
Inland Taipan snake
1. Morphological characteristics
Inland Taipan snake, also known as fine-scaled Taipan snake . The adult snake is about 2 meters long and has gray to yellow-brown scales all over its body. Some scales will have thin black edges. The trunk is brown or olive. The head is black or contains black markings. The fangs are 7-13 mm long and are highly venomous.
2. Population status
The inland taipan snake is distributed in Australia. It mainly inhabits inaccessible dry plains, grasslands, deserts and other places. It hides in mouse holes and mainly preys on frogs, toads and small mammals.
The inland Taipan snake is also a relatively shy species and generally does not actively attack humans. The species is not in danger.
3. Deadly venom
Certified by the Guinness Book of Records, the inland Taipan snake is the most venomous snake in the world. A single venom can kill 200,000 rats and 100 people.
The inland Taipan snake in attack state
The toxins contained in the inland Taipan snake are neurotoxins and cardiotoxins. After being bitten by them, the connection between muscles and nerves will be blocked, resulting in inability to move.The patient will suffer from headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, spasm , coma, and eventually die due to general paralysis. Death occurs in just 15 minutes.
Conclusion
Among these five poison masters, some venoms have been used by humans. For example, the venom of cone snails is not used for medical anesthesia. These species are huge treasures for nature and mankind. What we can do is to protect them and the earth on which we live.
