More lizard families than previously believed are venomous

Yeah, it probably is much ado about nothing, but at the very least it is interesting to herp people. And you never know. Some absolutely huge scientific discoveries have been made while looking for something completely unrelated to the discovery itself.

If you consider the biological purpose of venom, to begin the digestion process before the food is ingested, then HUMANS ARE VENOMOUS TO POTATOES.

Actually I believe the main purpose of venom is immobilization. Not all venoms cause necrosis of the tissues or start the digestion process. Some just flat out parilyze, and quickly in some cases.
Most Hemotoxic venom is known for the necrosis it causes, (Digestion aide if you will) But a lot of neurotoxic venom is known for quick immobilization, with out the appearant necrosis (or very little), involved with Hemotoxins.

At least, this is what I have been taught.
But aside from all that..........."Humans venomous to poatoes" HA HA HA HA I like that.

Ciao,
Rick

Originally Posted by coyote

Remember the thread where a fauna member was bitten by a savanna monitor (I believe) and he had a serious reaction. So serious in fact that he ended up going to an Emergency room? I think this happened in September of this year. Maybe this is what precipitated that reaction.

Here's an update on my incident anyway. Just out of curiousity, I emailed Dr. Fry and told him about what happened to me. We've exchanged a few emails, and this is the most recent reply from him:

G'day Jeff,

Very interesting. The swollen throat could be an allergic reaction (its ambiguous). However, the muscle and eye pain aren't nor is the painful sensation of the muscles the next day. Thats actually consistent with the venom effects we've found in the lab and those also reported for other bites.


Very interesting
Cheers,
Bryan

Maybe there is something to it?