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Tag: "snakes" at biology news

At the molecular level, the predator is the prey

An evolutionary arms race between predatory garter snakes and their newt quarry is turning out to be something of an illusion. At the molecular level, another battle rages. And in this second, miniature realm, it's the newt who's the aggressor. Biologists at Indiana University Bloomington, Utah State Unive...

Venom doc tracks down snake bioweapons

...ical arsenal from other body tissues. This enabled snakes to develop more specific, highly potent toxins, on...xplain the amazing diversity of ways that venomous snakes can kill their prey and why they have so much potential use in medical research," Fry explains. Fry...

Researchers reveal secrets of flying snakes

...Despite their lack of wing-like appendages, flying snakes are skilled aerial locomotors," said lead scientis...onne National Laboratory, found that paradise tree snakes are true gliders, traveling further horizontally than dropping vertically. The best flight Socha rec...

The making and breaking of microtubules

...merization and depolymerization, like the writhing snakes of Medusa's hair. Known prosaically as "dynamic instability," this ongoing rapid growth and shrinkage is key to the diverse workings of microtubules in the cell. For the first time, researchers have revealed at molecular level the forms taken by tra...

A whole lot of shaking goin' on triggers early hatching in red-eyed tree frogs

... 30 percent earlier if attacked by animals such as snakes or wasps. At her open-air laboratory at the Gambo... assistant professor of biology at BU, used parrot snakes and cat-eye snakes, to find which vibrational cues red-eyed tree frog eggs use to trigger early hatc...

The giant protein titin helps build muscles

Imagine grabbing two snakes by the tail so that they can't wriggle off in opposite directions. Scientists at the Hamburg Outstation of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and collaborators from King's College in London have now discovered that something similar hap...

Taipan venom no snake oil

...d the venom of eight of Australia's deadliest land snakes for their therapeutic potential. His study focuss...utical development company QRxPharma. "Australian snakes literally have a two-pronged attack when they bite their prey," Dr St Pierre said. "Firstly, venom ...

Stanford snake venom study shows that certain cells may eliminate poison

...f Science. Venom from three species of poisonous snakes and one species of honeybee were studied by a grou...cells could also reduce the toxicity of venom from snakes that didn't contain toxins comparable to sarafotoxin 6b, Galli and Metz tested the venom of the west...

Seeing the serpent

The ability to spot venomous snakes may have played a major role in the evolution of m...and learning. Fossils and DNA evidence show that snakes were likely the first serious predators of modern mammals, which evolved about 100 million years ago...

Snakes' virtual glasses, leopard spots and all-optical transistors

Even in the dark, snakes on a plane (at least those of the pit viper and bo...n. An optical analysis of pit organs suggests that snakes shouldn't be able to use the organ to track prey very well because the pit aperture is large and the...

Singing for survival

...Songs in response to predators ?mostly large cats, snakes and birds of prey ?have been previously noted, but no extensive research into its purpose or understanding by other gibbons has been done until now. The team, Esther Clarke, Klaus Zuberbuhler (both St Andrews) and Ulrich Reichard (Max Planck Inst...

New biochip helps study living cells, may speed drug development

...ing these channels, including the venom of certain snakes and strychnine. Porterfield's chip is technically classified as a "cell electrophysiology lab-on-a-chip." The device is further described in an article in the journal Sensors and Actuators, published online this month and scheduled to appear in t...

Nonvenomous Asian snakes 'borrow' defensive poison from toxic toads

Most snakes are born with poisonous bites they use for defense. But what can non-poisonous snakes do to ward off predators? What if they could borrow a dose of poison by eating toxic toads, then re...

Global survey of lizards reveals greater abundance of animals on islands than on mainland ecosystems

...tated island populations of lizards and introduced snakes have caused the loss of birds and lizards on islands. “Cases of species introductions wreaking havoc on islands are likely to become more common as the islands face increasing pressures from population growth, tourism, development, and climate ch...

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