There are thousands of species of animals on Earth that carry toxins, and the most venomous snakes can cause severe pain to the bitten person in a matter of seconds, and destroy their nervous system and muscle tissue in a matter of minutes. In addition to venomous snakes, venomous spiders, scorpions, etc. also carry toxins. This article describes several well-known poisonous animals.
Which of the thousands of poisonous animals on Earth is more harmful to people? If you want to rank the most dangerous poisonous animals in the world, first consider the probability of attack (the chance of the animal attacking a person), secondly consider the aggressiveness (aggressive animals are generally more aggressive), as well as the spray system, the amount of venom (how much venom the animal can release at a time), and the toxicity of the venom. The most poisonous animals are not necessarily the animals that pose the greatest threat to humans. Let's take a look at some of the most dangerous poisonous animals.
<h1>cobra</h1>
When it comes to the most venomous animals, the first thing that comes to mind is the snake. In southern Indonesia, there is a snake that can spray venom from a distance, the spraying cobra. Like other venomous snakes, venomous cobras spray venom through hollow teeth, but can spray venom far and wide with astonishing precision, almost a hundred shots. What's worse is that this snake will repeatedly attack a target. In general, once a prey is hit by them, its entire nervous system will be anesthetized, resulting in slowed circulation in the body, difficulty breathing, muscle atrophy, and death within minutes. When the snake feels threatened, it first preempts by intimidating: straighten up and make itself look more powerful, which is the characteristic attack posture of the cobra; if this trick does not work, take further action - by contracting the muscles above the venom glands to allow the venom to seep into the hollow venom, and when the venom reaches the end of the venom, the strong pressure will make the venom shoot out like a bullet. However, for humans, the spray cobra is not the most dangerous venomous snake, because its venom has little effect on the human skin, and will only damage the victim's eyes, make the eyes red and swollen, cause needle-like pain, and if not treated in time, it may lead to blindness.
The king cobra, which lives in southern Asia, is the longest venomous snake in the world, reaching 5.5 meters tall and standing tall when standing tall. The venom of this snake is not the most poisonous, but the amount is very large, up to 200 to 500 mg in one bite, and it only takes 12 mg to kill a person. Once a person is bitten by a king cobra, respiratory failure will soon occur, and after 1 minute, it will die, and almost no one will be spared. Fortunately, this snake is not willing to deal with humans, and they will try to avoid contact with humans, so there are not many incidents of king cobra injuries every year. King cobras prefer to live in humid environments, feeding on birds, lizards and other small mammals, but their favorite food is snakes, including small pythons, other cobras, etc. – the Latin name for the king cobra translates to "snake-eating snake". This huge venomous snake can swallow prey larger than itself.
Compared to the largest king cobra, the king cobra's little cousin, the regular cobra, is actually more dangerous. Common cobras are most common in the Indian subcontinent and extend all the way to South Asia. This snake bites an average of about 15,000 people a year, and because of its aggressive nature, it often takes the initiative to attack humans. The fangs of the common cobra are not very large, but they can release a lot of venom. When preparing to attack its prey, the common cobra will straighten the first 1/3 part of the body, loosen the soft ribs and skin, and form a unique cloak, making it seem to suddenly become much larger. Once a prey is bitten by an ordinary cobra, its nervous system is destroyed and its neural activity is blocked, leading to respiratory failure. This snake will also adjust the amount of venom according to the size of the prey, never waste, sometimes even dry bites, do not secrete venom at all. In order to prevent attacks on the back, this snake also has a pair of scary false eyes on the back, which is actually a pair of eye-like markings. That's where the name Cobra comes from.
<h1>Sydney funnel web spider</h1>
Australia is home to poisonous spiders, with a total of 22 species of poisonous spiders. If there is a ranking of the most dangerous poisonous spiders, the Sydney funnel web spider should be at the top.
Funnel web spiders get their name from the funnel-shaped burrows they make. The spiders have smooth black heads and tan-brown bodies, most notably their huge clawed horns. The claws of spiders are mostly like pincers, while the claws of funnel web spiders are like daggers. In order to allow the "dagger" to pierce into the prey, they often make all their strength to slam downwards, and if one attack fails, they will attack repeatedly, with enough strength to pierce people's toenails.
The Sydney Funnel Web Spider is the only spider in the world that cannot yet be dealt with with antivenoms, so even adults are not guaranteed to survive if bitten by them. Funnel web spiders release a potent toxin when biting and can reach a person's circulatory system within two minutes and can cause death in 15 minutes in severe cases. This toxin first causes tingling, drooling, tears, sweating, vomiting, abdominal pain, etc., most of the symptoms can be reduced after two hours, but then there will be difficulty breathing and cardiac arrest.
Both male and female spiders of the Sydney funnel web spider carry high venom, but the composition of the venom between the two is slightly different. Male spiders are more dangerous to humans than females, and the reasons are: first, because male spiders are more active and often go out of their burrows to find a mate, so they are more likely to meet people; second, because male spiders are more toxic to venom. Males are more venomous than females, in part because they leave their burrows to roam outside all year round and need more powerful defensive weapons, while females spend most of their time lurking in caves, not liking to show their faces, and can avoid predators in burrows, so they don't need to be so toxic. However, when female spiders venture out of the hole, their venom becomes stronger, due to their defense mechanisms and the result of long-term evolution.
In Australia, in addition to the Sydney funnel web spider, there is another spider that also poses a great threat to humans, and that is the red-backed spider. In Australia, red-backed spiders have more injuries than snakes and other animals in total, with about 1,000 people bitten by them each year. This spider is closely related to the infamous Black Widow spider and, like the Black Widow spider, has an hourglass mark on its abdomen. The red-backed spider takes its name from the striking red ribbon on its body.
Compared to the red-backed spider, the Black Widow spider is much more vicious, and its venom is 15 times more poisonous than the rattlesnake. The Black Widow Spider lives in North America. There are four species of black widow spiders in the United States, which are found in all other states except Alaska.
<h1>Arizona Wood Scorpion</h1>
Scorpions are also a venomous animal, but they are injected in a completely different way from spiders and snakes. Spiders and snakes inject venom into their victims through their fangs, while scorpions inject venom with stingers from their tails. Scorpion venom and snake venom also have different effects on the nervous system, the biggest feature of scorpion venom is to make the nervous system in a state of overexcitation, so that the heartbeat is accelerated, and the blood pressure is increased. I don't know how many people have been stung by scorpions, maybe millions, maybe tens of millions, until the development of antivenoms, the situation has improved.
In the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, it is inhabited by a highly poisonous scorpion, the Arizona wood scorpion. This scorpion often encounters humans, but does not actively attack people unless it is deliberately provoked. Due to the small size of the wood scorpion and the relatively small stinger, the amount of venom released at a time is not much. To compensate for this deficiency, the venom of the wood scorpion became very toxic, posing a great threat to humans before the antivenom was developed.
In terms of toxicity, the killer scorpion living in the Middle East and North Africa is more than the wood scorpion. The killer scorpion is small in size and the stinger is not large, but its venom is extremely toxic, and in the case of the same amount, it is more deadly than any scorpion. The lethality rate of killer scorpions also far exceeds that of wood scorpions. In the Middle East and North Africa, many people have been stung by murderous scorpions. The killer scorpion is irritable and aggressive, with sharp stingers that can easily pierce a person's skin. The venom of a killer scorpion, if it enters the bloodstream, can cause heart and respiratory failure. Fortunately, the Killer Scorpion itself strictly controls the amount of venom released by each attack, which is a blessing for humans.
<h1>Killer bees</h1>
The killer bee lives on the North American continent, and because of its irritable and vicious temperament, it is nicknamed "killer bee". The reason why the killer bees are terrible is because of their terrible attack methods: they rush up, attack in groups, and never collect troops until they kill them all. In fact, they do this to protect the safety of their hives, queens and young bees, but they are a bit "overdefended".
Native to Africa, the killer bee entered North America entirely because of a human error. In 1956, Brazilian scientists were eager to cultivate a bee with higher honey production, so they introduced African bees to hybridize with European bees, but some African bees escaped from the experimental site and crossed with local bees to produce killer bees. With no natural enemies, the population of this bee has increased dramatically. Once disturbed, killer bees will rise up and attack them, and vibrating, shiny objects such as jewelry, dark clothing, etc. are "red flags" for them, which can provoke them and trigger their aggressive behavior. When a killer bee stings, it releases a pheromone, also known as an odor signal, which quickly attracts more killer bees, usually half of the members of the hive. If you accidentally provoke killer bees, about 20,000 killer bees will attack you. They will follow you closely, forcing up to 1,000 meters. Even if you jump into the water, they won't let you go, but hover above your head, waiting for you to come out of the water. For the next 8 hours, the swarm remained agitated, and any living creature within 1,000 meters of the hive would be attacked. In fact, in terms of toxicity alone, the killer bee is no different from the European honey bee, and the terrible thing about the killer bee is that there are too many bees involved in the attack. Once a person is stung all over the body, it will lead to anaphylactic shock, which is an allergic reaction to bee venom, at which time the throat muscles will contract, blood pressure will drop, and if the treatment is not timely, it will lead to death. Of course, for killer bees, aggression is also a suicidal act.
<h1>Stone fish</h1>
Not only on land, but also in the ocean, there are many poisonous animals. In australia's coastal waters lives a poisonous fish, the stone fish, which is one of the most poisonous fish in the world. If you are accidentally stung by a stone-like thing under the water, don't be careless, it may be a very cleverly disguised stone fish. Dozens of people in Australia are stabbed by stone fish every year. Stone fish can stay motionless underwater for hours, waiting for small fish or shrimp to swim over, and then jump up and use their mouths to create a powerful suction force that can suck the prey down in just 1 millisecond. The defensive weapon of the stone fish is the spines on their bodies, and once they are provoked, the 13 spines on their bodies will stand upright, and each thorn is extremely sharp, like a dagger, which can easily pierce the rubber sole. The spines are not only sharp, but more importantly, they contain venom. Once the venom enters the body, it will spread quickly, and the injured person will have pain, swelling, high fever, vomiting and paralysis, and antivenom must be used, otherwise it will cause respiratory failure or heart disease.
In terms of the lethality of the venom, the ghost ferret that lives in the waters along the tropical coast of the Pacific Ocean is no less than the stone fish, because it is as poisonous as a scorpion, commonly known as the sea scorpion. Although this animal has an ugly image and an abominable face, its body color is bright and can change with the environment, which is the result of their evolution of environmental adaptation, which is an extremely effective camouflage.
The gill lid of the ghost touch has long, sharp poisonous spines, 6 on each side, and the 5 to 6 spines on the first dorsal fin are also poisonous. The poisonous spines on the gill cap are covered by the skin, revealing only the anterior part. There is a spiny groove on both sides of the spine, a pear-shaped glandular tissue along each groove, and the wider end connects the base of the spine. When the stinger touched by the ghost is squeezed, the glandular cells of the venom gland are squeezed, and the venom enters the stinging groove and flows into the body of a person or animal, just like injecting a shot of poison under the skin.
If a person accidentally steps on the ghost touch, he will feel burning pain in the initial stage, and if he is not treated in time, it will cause syncope, heartbeat, fever, numbness, vomiting, shortness of breath, and in severe cases, death.
<h1>Blue-ringed octopus</h1>
In Australia's coastal waters lives a venomous creature that often inhabits crevices in rocks and cleverly disguises itself by changing its skin color. This beautiful marine creature is the blue-ringed octopus. There are 25 species of blue-ringed octopus worldwide, all of which live in the coastal waters of Australia.
Blue-ringed octopuses are a very dangerous venomous animal, they are also very intelligent, and they have a very good warning system. When anyone attempting to enter their territory is spotted, the blue rings on their bodies flicker like a warning: "I'm dangerous, and if you get too close, I'll bite you." "Once a visitor breaks into their territory, they bite the intruder hard. The toxins carried by blue-ringed octopuses are made up of a very special protein, tetrodotoxin, which can quickly paralyze prey such as crabs and has the same effect on humans. The large venom glands inside the blue-ringed octopus deliver venom directly to its sharp parrot-like mouth.
At rest, the skin of the blue-ringed octopus is yellow with a tea-brown ring. When stimulated. These tea-brown rings immediately turn into dazzling peacock blue. This color change stems from the blue-ringed octopus's pigmented elastic sac, or pigment cells, which are usually located under the skin. When frightened, it quickly stretches, releasing a blue pigment to the surface of the skin. When a blue-ringed octopus thinks the danger is over, its pigment cells shrink and the blue color on its skin disappears. Most of the incidents of blue-ringed octopuses attacking humans occur when humans try to grab them, when blue light flashes. It was too late.
The parrot-like mouth of the blue-ringed octopus can easily pierce a person's skin and subcutaneous muscles. Although people do not feel particularly painful when bitten by blue-ringed octopus, because the venom of blue-ringed octopus is many times more poisonous than cyanide, it will cause muscle paralysis of the bitten person, followed by loss of taste, touch and vision, and if the treatment is not timely, respiratory failure will occur. With just one bite, the blue-ringed octopus can kill an adult in 90 minutes. There is currently no anti-venom serum for blue-ringed octopuses in medicine. It must add up to more than 120 meters long. With the addition of tentacles, adult box jellyfish can reach a body length of 4.5 meters. There are millions of spikes scattered across each tentacle, and each small thorn can inject a small drop of venom into the body of the stinge. The amount of venom injected depends on how strong the tentacles of the box jellyfish come into contact with the stinge. Food often attracts box jellyfish closer to the coast, but also to humans. Because of their long and prickly tentacles, swimmers are often stung before they can see what it is. The venom spreads quickly throughout the stinged person's body, and the skin of the injured area will necrotic within a few hours, leaving a long scar. Like a whiplash. The stinged person quickly becomes difficult to breathe, followed by heart and respiratory failure, and in severe cases, he dies within two minutes without even a chance of treatment. In the last century, box jellyfish have claimed the lives of more than 80 people. Most died in as little as 5 minutes.
<h1>Chicken heart snail</h1>
In the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, there is a peculiar marine killer, the chicken heart snail. Most biological venoms are composed of only a few proteins, but the venom of chicken heart snails includes hundreds of toxins, including chemicals that paralyze nerves, can cause convulsions in an instant, and have a strong sedative effect, preventing prey from escaping. Because of the lethal effect of venom, with just one blow, the prey is doomed.
There are more than 500 species of chicken heart snails, and the most toxic ones are the chicken heart snails that inhabit the coastal waters of Australia. Chicken heart snail, also known as "taro snail", is named because its shape is both like chicken heart and taro. They hide in shallow waters during the day and come out at night to hunt, attacking prey with their venom-filled weapon, a 1-centimeter-long harpoon. There are 20 "harpoons" in the mouth of the chicken heart snail, through which the chicken heart snail fires venom, and the prey is quickly paralyzed once hit. After that, the chicken heart snail will open its mouth to swallow the prey, and the chicken heart snail can swallow the prey as large as itself. The venom released by the snail was enough to kill 15 people at a time, so a fork was a fatal blow. This is an effective way of hunting and self-defense, effectively compensating for the lack of chicken heart snails that cannot move quickly. Although the pain will soon subside, the injured person will then be paralyzed, then dizzy, speak vaguely, and collapse to the ground. At present, there is no antivenom for chicken heart snail in medicine, and the only way to treat it is to compress and perform artificial respiration.