Poison dart frogs kept in captivity, and fed on a diet of non-toxic foods, lose their toxicity. The poison these frogs carry is not produced natively in their bodies, instead, they acquire the poison from their diets, primarily from ants and other bugs they eat. Many species of poison frogs, indigenous to South America, produce these toxins, capable of causing respiratory failure and paralysis, leading to death. The golden poison frog, while only 1.5 centimeters, carries enough poison to kill several human beings. More famous are poison dart frogs, which produce a poison volatile enough to kill you outright with a single touch. Though that was a result of salmonella, which is a bacteria, not a poison, there are toxic amphibians.Ī number of species produce bufotoxins which are present on the skin and may have medicinal uses, but that doesn't mean you should go smooching them. In fact, a few dozen children took ill due to kissing frogs after the release of Disney's The Princess and the Frog. Such a result is not unheard of in the animal kingdom. Contact with Ivy's lips delivers a toxin capable of killing the recipient. Given what we know about the character, despite story nomenclature, the killer kiss is more accurately described as poisonous, not venomous. Some interpretations of the character, most notably the live-action Batman and Robin, explain the killer kiss as being a result of Venom. She delivers it intentionally, like a venom but it passes externally via contact, not through injection into the body. Poison Ivy's kiss lives in a sort of gray area. Poison is passive, living on or in the tissues of a plant or animal and must be touched or consumed. Venom is delivered through an active process, usually via fangs, spines, or stingers. If something bites you and it kills you or makes you sick, it's venomous. The shorthand is, if you bite something and it kills you or makes you sick, it's poisonous. While the two are often used interchangeably, they do have a difference, primarily in the delivery system. It's worth noting, here, the difference between venom and poison. While she seemingly has developed some resistance to these toxins, her victims aren't as lucky. Chemical compounds she produces in her body take up residence on her lips. Poison Ivy is well-known for sealing the death certificates of some of her victims with a kiss. Such is the life of the male anglerfish, and all because they followed their noses. The male becomes nothing more than a genetic loot box parasitically living off the larger, much more capable, female.Įveryone likes a free meal, but it usually doesn't come at the cost of all freedom and most of your body. Most of his body withers away, and their circulatory systems connect. Once a male anglerfish locates a mate, he uses specialized teeth to burrow into the belly of the female, at which point his body fuses with hers. Different species do this in different ways, but some rely on a keen sense of smell to locate pheromones released by females. Then the males, not well-suited for finding prey, begin the only hunt they'll undertake in their lives - the hunt for a mate. In some species, females are more than 60 times larger than males.ĭuring maturation, the females grow large, they get their famous teeth and lures, while the males remain small. The species is sexually dimorphous, meaning the males and females of the species are drastically different. However, it's only female anglerfish that look so terrifying. To see the face of an anglerfish is to see the sorts of things which appear, peering through darkened windows in your nightmares. They're the sort of animal that makes you wonder if life on Earth wasn't a total mistake. You're probably familiar with anglerfish, with their massive jaws and glowing lures. There are fewer examples of animal mating practices more terrifying than those of anglerfish. In fact, one need only look to the deep oceans to find horrifying examples of semi-predatory pheromones in action. That isn't to say that this sort of interaction doesn't happen. While this works in the Poison Ivy example since she's a modified human influencing other humans, any chemical interaction between inter-species predators and prey would not be accomplished by way of pheromones. Pheromones are, by definition, chemicals that trigger a response within members of the same species. In nature, however, pheromones are not typically used in predator-prey interactions. It's an unusual but effective strategy for predator-prey relations. The result: Her targets (or prey) become less able to fend off her attacks, or even completely willing to submit to her demands. In Batman canon, Poison Ivy is capable of seducing others through the use of pheromones.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |