Subject: Re: Any Poisonous or Venomous Mammals or Birds ???

From: [email-masked] (Terry Morse)
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 1995 17:18:53

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Mark Thorson) writes:
>From: [email-masked] (Mark Thorson)
>Subject: Any Poisonous or Venomous Mammals or Birds ???
>Date: Sat, 15 Apr 1995 16:21:53 GMT

>I can think of lots of poisonous and venomous insects, reptiles, and fish,
>but I can't think of any mammals or birds.  I vaguely remember hearing that
>the platypus has poison glands near its claws, but I could be wrong about
>that.

>So, are there any poisonous or venomous mammals or birds?  If I were
>starving in an Australian concentration camp, and I caught some totally
>unfamiliar mammal bird, can I assume it would be safe to eat?

As pointed out by others, there are (at least) three species of birds from New 
Guinea in the genus _Pitohui_ (P. dicrous and P. nigrescens are two of them) 
which have been found to have homobatrachotoxin, the toxin found in poison 
dart frogs (_Phylobates_).  It is speculated that this is for defense against 
either predators or parasites, or both.  See Dumbacher et al. in _Science_ 
258(5083): 799-801 for details.

  The Golden Guide, _Venomous Animals_, by Edmund Brodie, Jr. (NY: Golden 
Press, 1989; ISBN 0-307-24074-6) lists the following mammals as venomous or 
toxic:

Platypus (_Ornithorhynchus anatinus_) - poisonous spur
Echidna (_Tachyglossus aculeatus) - poisonous spur
European Water Shrew (_Neomys fodiens_) - delivered by a groove formed by the 
   lower incisors; shrew venom has different components, one of which affects 
  cold-blooded prey, and another "warm-blooded"
Short-tailed Shrew (_Blarina brevicauda_) - same delivery mechanism; "about   
  three times more venomous than the European Water Shrew"
Hedgehogs (various species) - anoint their spines with poisonous 
  secretions of other animals, e.g. toads.  "Young hedgehogs lick toxins 
  from their mother's spines and self-anoint themselves (sic) even 
  before their eyes are open"
Madagascan Tenrecs (various species) - some anoint their spines with the venom 
  of other animals

  Despite being popular guides, the Golden Guides are frequently quite useful 
and informative. Besides this one, I get great use out of _Spiders and their 
Kin_, the most comprehensive pictorial guide to spiders I know of.

--Terry
Terry Morse
[email-masked]
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