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Qilong β€” The Venomous Mammal by

Published: 2014-03-19 00:17:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 4120; Favourites: 96; Downloads: 0
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Description Not all mammals are cute or fluffy.

The solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) is one of few mammals about as fearsome as they are small. Solenodons eat a wide variety of things, but the most astonishing factoid one usually hears is that they are venomous. Their saliva is toxic, and there are grooves on the sides of its front teeth that help deliver this into bites. The teeth are very snake like in other fashions, too: the rear edges have deep keels, which aid in deep biting without as much force being delivered, good for an animal that hunts underground.
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Comments: 22

AGV120395 [2015-05-05 12:50:15 +0000 UTC]

that's why I love shrews and simlars, they're like venomous micro-wolves

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quiet-SpecterOwl [2014-08-09 17:36:53 +0000 UTC]

Remind me of elephant shrews. Little guys are beautiful. Once dropped my lunch when one came up next to me in the bushvelt, it lifted its little long snout and gave of a territorial shriek. We both froze at the sight of one another (felt like fools). I think they must also have that nose bone to be able to move their snout in that manner. I don't think they are short sighted and their obsession with food is no less than their continualΒ OCD in keeping their escape "path" free from debrie (derbie?). Just leave a leaf in their path and wait, he/she will come by and unceremoniouslyΒ yank the leaf from the path.

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Pr0teusUnbound [2014-03-21 10:37:07 +0000 UTC]

i often find dead shrews in the wood, but only once have i seen a live one. you would think that having a venomous bite and an insatiable apatite would make these animals vicious superpredators, but their not. in attitude shrews are just fussy shortsighted mice with an obsession with food. i think its important to keep animals like shrews in mind when interpreting animal remains.

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Qilong In reply to Pr0teusUnbound [2014-03-21 11:25:36 +0000 UTC]

Shrews can be amazing animals, and there are some utterly fantabulpous shrews out there. But solenodons aren't really shrews but something a little more primitive than a shrew or a mole, but related to both.

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Zimices [2014-03-19 06:50:41 +0000 UTC]

Why solenodonts don't have the zygomatic arch?

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Qilong In reply to Zimices [2014-03-19 07:35:11 +0000 UTC]

No need. Solenodon's primary biting muscles are the temporalis complix, rather than the masseters. Similar adaptations occur in sloths, where the loss of the complete arch occurs with more complete fusion of the skull. Arch helps dissipate stress away from the snout and from the masseter muscles. But those muscles are still there, just smaller.

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Zimices In reply to Qilong [2014-03-19 07:53:21 +0000 UTC]

I see. The only similar case that I've seen is in anteaters, but I guess that in it is because their weak mandibles, right?

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Qilong In reply to Zimices [2014-03-20 04:17:52 +0000 UTC]

Well, sloths have a gap, too. Also, pangolins. Loss of the arch means merely loss of a section of bone that, while it normally attaches muscle, is not needed there. The muscles are either reduced or moved. Mostly, it's about changes in which muscles are being emphasized, or a reduction entirely. And yes, in anteaters it's because they have weak buccal muscles.

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RajaHarimau98 [2014-03-19 04:30:12 +0000 UTC]

Interesting how mammals are generally associated with being "cuddly" and "friendly" today when their skeletons are probably some of the most terrifying in the animal kingdom.

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Qilong In reply to RajaHarimau98 [2014-03-19 07:35:23 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I know!

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Carcharodontotitan [2014-03-19 03:27:58 +0000 UTC]

What are the projections coming out of the front?

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Qilong In reply to Carcharodontotitan [2014-03-19 04:07:30 +0000 UTC]

The little projection is a special bone only solenodons have, called an os proboscis, or "nose bone," which is mobile and helps support cartilage of the snout and helps move the nose. They have very long noses.

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Carcharodontotitan In reply to Qilong [2014-03-20 00:51:39 +0000 UTC]

Oh, that's pretty cool. Thanks!

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Qilong In reply to Carcharodontotitan [2014-03-20 04:19:06 +0000 UTC]

No prob!

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Carcharodontotitan In reply to Qilong [2014-03-21 00:57:12 +0000 UTC]

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Hyrotrioskjan In reply to Qilong [2014-03-19 07:44:17 +0000 UTC]

It's a possible ancestor of the Rhinogradentia!

Well done skull by the way

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Qilong In reply to Hyrotrioskjan [2014-03-20 04:18:57 +0000 UTC]

Heh, rhinogrades. Sometimes I wish I was more into spec bio as some of you guys.

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Hyrotrioskjan In reply to Qilong [2014-03-20 16:44:57 +0000 UTC]

And I wish I would be able to understand everything about myo- and osteology you write ^^
Nobody is perfect

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Qilong In reply to Hyrotrioskjan [2014-03-21 08:22:39 +0000 UTC]

Everyone teaches everyone else. I prefer organic education. I am personally impressed with your grasp of diverse biologies, so we can agree we're evenly impressed

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Hyrotrioskjan In reply to Qilong [2014-03-22 00:26:09 +0000 UTC]

Indeed

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Yo-Snap [2014-03-19 01:57:48 +0000 UTC]

Coolio! Your skulls are always the best!

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Qilong In reply to Yo-Snap [2014-03-19 04:07:40 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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