00:00The venom can be inoculated in an active way, as is the case with venomous animals such as snakes, spiders and insects.
00:30The venom can be inoculated in an active way, as is the case with venomous animals such as snakes, spiders and insects.
00:38Dendrobates are very colourful little frogs that we can find in South America and that are only a few centimetres long.
00:45These frogs, in case of danger, when they feel threatened, will make a few drops of poison pearl on the surface of their skin.
00:55This poison will serve as an extremely effective defense against their predators.
01:00We can also find, in a very specific way, surprising roles of venoms.
01:07For example, in Ornithorhynchus, the male has a needle at the level of each of the hind legs, linked to a venom gland.
01:14He will use this needle against the other males during reproduction, when there will be fights between males to obtain the favours of a female.
01:26We will find inoculation methods by biting. This will be the case with snakes, spiders for example.
01:33This means that they have hollow hooks at the level of their mouths, like a syringe, allowing them to inject the venom.
01:40Others will inject the venom by biting. This will be the case with bees, wasps, for example.
01:46Others have a slightly surprising administration method.
01:50I was particularly intrigued by what we call the Cnidaires, this family of marine animals,
01:55this group that corresponds to jellyfish, sea anemones and corals,
01:59who seem absolutely passive and ultimately have a formidable and unique weapon in the world to administer their venom.
02:06They have capsules in their tentacles that contain the venom and a harpoon folded over itself.
02:11When something comes to rub the tentacle, a prey for example, the capsule will open,
02:18release the harpoon, which will plant itself deep into the flesh and inject the venom.
02:23This is multiplied by a dozen, a hundred small capsules.
02:27This will make a large amount of venom in one go.
02:31This venom is precious for most of these animals, since many will use it to feed themselves.
02:44It is expensive to produce, it takes time and energy,
02:48so very often all these animals will somehow save this venom and use it sparingly.
03:01Thank you for watching!
Comments