In the eternal struggle for survival, animals are constantly evolving new strategies to win. This arms race is particularly evident when looking at the fight between opossums and snakes. Possums have built up a tolerance to pit viper venom by eating the potential predators. This has also helped them protect themselves from bites from rattlesnakes and copperheads. Even more interestingly though, the viper is constantly evolving more deadly poison:
Rapid evolution of both the snake’s venom and the opossum’s venom defense suggest that the two creatures are in a chemical arms race, having evolved in response to each other, according to researchers at the American Museum of Natural History in an article published in PLoS One.
Learn more over at Discovery News.
Link Image via normanack [Flickr]
Minor correction: the viper is evolving more deadly venom, not poison. Snakes have venom, not poison.
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