According to statistics, there are 1.5 million species of animals on the earth, and in order to be able to thrive on this beautiful planet, each animal has its own unique secret weapon. There is such a class of animals, they are the masters of poison in the animal kingdom, making predators fearful. Among them, there are five kinds of animals that can be called the pinnacle of poison, let us know them together today, and when we encounter them in the future, we must hide far away.
5th Place Chicken Heart Snail
1. Morphological characteristics
Beautiful chicken heart snail on the outside
Chicken heart snails, also known as "taro snails", because their shape is somewhat like chicken hearts, some like taro, so named. They have an extremely beautiful appearance, and whenever the sea catcher sees them, they can't help but pick them up and play with them, and then tragedy occurs.
The front end of the chicken heart snail is thin and the back end is thick, which at first glance looks very similar to ordinary screws. But they have a unique "harpoon", which is made of a tooth tongue and hidden in a long tubular beak. Whenever a prey passes by, the chicken heart snail will shoot a "harpoon" filled with venom from the beak, and the venom will instantly paralyze the prey. Finally, the chicken heart snail will drag the prey into its mouth through a harpoon and eat it. This is very similar to us humans using harpoonfish.
The protrusion in the upper right corner is the beak of the chicken heart snail
2. Population status
There are about 500 species of chicken heart snails in the world, and they are widely distributed in tropical seas, on the beaches along the coast and near coral reefs, and they can often be seen. It is mostly distributed in Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan and Taiwan provinces on the mainland. Foreign countries are distributed in Australia, Africa, New Zealand, Japan and other countries geographically close to the equator.
3. Deadly venom
The venom contained in a chicken heart snail can kill 10 people.
The venom in the chicken heart snail contains hundreds of different components, which are neurotoxins, collectively known as taro toxins. The mechanism of action of these toxins is to quickly block the transmission of information by the nervous system, and the body cannot receive the information transmitted by the brain, resulting in paralysis of the whole body and eventually poisoning to death.
Among the more than 500 kinds of chicken heart snails, the most toxic one is the "cigar snail", that is to say, once poisoned, the time to smoke a cigar has not been effectively treated, and the person can only wait for death.
4th Golden Arrow Poison Frog
Cute golden arrow poison frog
1. Morphological characteristics
The golden arrow poison frog, the whole body is almost yellow, hence the name. They are very small, and the largest is only 5 years long. They are the most toxic of all poison dart frogs. An interesting phenomenon is that the poison in their bodies is not innate, but is obtained by eating other poisonous small animals. If a poison dart frog is kept artificially non-toxic, their body is not poisonous.
Because of the poison in their bodies, they have no natural enemies except humans.
2. Population status
The golden poison dart frog is a species of poison dart frog, mainly distributed in tropical rainforests, Brazil, Guyana, Columby wing and Central America. They have a total of 6-8 genera and 130-170 species. The local natives use their venom to make weapons to hunt or kill enemies.
Indigenous people take poison
Due to human destruction of rainforests, climate change, pollution and other factors, the living space of poison dart frogs has been shrinking, and one-third of the species have been included in the red list of endangered species.
3. Deadly venom
The toxin contained in a golden dart frog can cause 10 people to die within 3 minutes.
The venom component of the Golden Arrow Poison Frog has been studied to be a toxin called steroids. Its mechanism of action is that when the toxin enters the axonal part of the nerve fiber, the axonal part will appear permanently depolarized, resulting in the inability of the body to transport substances normally, and destroying the acid-base balance in the body, and the body will eventually die due to inability to move.
3rd species of blue-ringed octopus
Warning blue-ringed octopus
1. Morphological characteristics
This is a very small species of octopus with spread tentacles no more than 15 cm long. Curled up, about the size of a golf ball. The blue-ringed octopus has a yellowish-brown body, so named because of its glowing blue ring.
Usually, the body of the blue-ringed octopus is yellowish brown, and when they encounter danger, the rings on their bodies emit a dazzling blue color to warn each other. Of course, except for hunting, they generally do not actively attack humans.
2. Population status
Blue-ringed octopus is widely distributed in the Pacific Ocean between Japan and Australia, as well as in the Indian Ocean. They are more shy, generally diurnal and nocturnal, and mainly feed on small fish, small shrimp, and small crabs.
Because it is distributed in the depths of the ocean, it is usually hidden relatively deeply, and the population has not encountered a crisis.
3. Deadly venom
The venom contained in a single blue-ringed octopus can kill up to 26 people.
Their main toxins are tetrodotoxin, a serum toxin, acetylcholine, and dopamine, which are derived from a bacterium in the salivary glands of blue-ringed octopuses. Tetrodotoxin, like the toxin in the body of the pufferfish, can paralyze the central nervous system and nerve endings, causing heavy bleeding, accompanied by tingling, fever, difficulty breathing, and eventually death.
Although the toxin of the blue-ringed octopus is very powerful, there is basically no news of blue-ringed octopus killing people because it does not overlap much with the living area of humans.
The second type of tank jellyfish
Beautiful tank jellyfish
1. Morphological characteristics
Tank jellyfish, one of the most poisonous creatures in the ocean. Also called cubic jellyfish, because they belong to the cubic jellyfish class, so named, and because they look like boxes, so called box jellyfish. They are small in size and large in jellyfish, spiraling through a column of water jets through their bodies. They have two eyes on either side of their bodies and can feel the changes in light. They have more than 60 banded tentacles that contain highly toxic.
2. Population status
Tank jellyfish live mainly in the coastal waters of northeastern Australia, preying on fish and small sea crabs, and because of their high virulence, there are few natural predators.
3. Deadly venom
The venom contained in a single tank of jellyfish can kill 60 people.
When the tank jellyfish spot their prey, they will quickly float past, wrapping their tentacles tightly around the prey while spewing venom. Once the venom is sprayed on the person's body, many bright red blood marks will appear on the skin, and death will be pronounced two or three minutes later.
Well, the mechanism of action of the venom is not very clear at present, it is known that the venom will pass through the human body, quickly damage the heart, destroy the beating of the heart, resulting in difficulty in blood supply, and eventually rapid death.
1st Place Inland Taipan Snake
Inland too climbing snakes
1. Morphological characteristics
The inland Taipan snake, also known as the fine-scaled Taipan snake, is about 2 meters long and has gray to yellow-brown scales all over its body. Some scales have fine black edges. The torso is brown or olive. The head is black or contains black markings, and the poisonous teeth are 7-13 mm long and highly toxic.
2. Population status
The inland Taipan snake is distributed in Australia, mainly inhabiting inaccessible dry plains, grasslands, deserts and other places, hiding in rat holes, mainly preying on frogs, toads, and small mammals.
The inland Taipan snake is also a relatively shy species, generally does not actively attack humans, and the species is not dangerous.
3. Deadly venom
Certified by the Guinness Book of Records, the inland Taipan snake is the most venomous snake in the world, killing 200,000 rats and 100 people in a single venom.
Attack states inland too climbing snakes
The toxins contained in the inland Taipan snake are neurotoxins and cardiac toxins. When bitten by them, they block the connection between muscles and nerves, resulting in inability to move. Patients will experience headaches, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, cramps, coma, and eventually death from paralysis, and death will occur within just 15 minutes.
epilogue
Among the five poison masters, some of the venom has been used by humans, such as the venom of the chicken heart snail, which is not used for medical anesthesia. These species are a huge treasure trove for nature and for human beings, and all we can do is protect them and protect the earth on which we live.