blackkittenclan: you know me well enough to know what i’m capable of…
* unidentified species of Pink octopus at Endeavour Ridge, off the coast of Vancouver Island. Photo: NEPTUNE Canada
(Source: boyohboyiaintnowizkid)
stop that cat. no many how many hours of googly eyes you give me a book will never be a pillow.
Platypus Venom
The platypus is one of the few mammals to produce venom. Males have a pair of spurs on their hind limbs. The male’s pair of spurs spits out a cocktail of poisons that, while excruciatingly painful, is not lethal to most animals.
Venom is produced in the crural glands of the male, which are kidney-shaped alveolar glands located in the upper thigh connected by a thin-walled duct to a calcaneus spur on each hind limb. Female platypuses, in common with echidnas, have rudimentary spur buds which do not develop (dropping off before the end of their first year) and lack functional crural glands. The spur is attached to a small bone which allows articulation; the spur can move at a right angle to the limb allowing a greater range of attack than a fixed spur would allow. The spur normally lies flat against the limb but is raised when required.
The crural gland produces a venom secretion containing at least 19 different peptides, in addition to non-protein components…
(read more: Wikipedia) (photo: Peter Scheunis)
1 year ago | 58 notes
Source: rhamphotheca
2 years ago | 220 notes
Source: dearscience
