venomous mammals
Venomous mammal The Cuban solenodon has a venomous bite. Venomous mammals are animals of the class Mammalia that produce venom , which they use to kill or disable prey, to defend themselves from predators or conspecifics or in agonistic encounters. In modern nature, venomous mammals are rare. Mammalian venoms form a heterogeneous group having different compositions and modes of action and are present in three orders of mammals, Eulipotyphla , Monotremata , and Chiroptera . A fourth order, Primates , is proposed to have venomous representatives. [1] To explain the rarity of venom delivery in Mammalia, Mark Dufton of the University of Strathclyde has suggested that modern mammalian predators do not need venom because they are able to kill quickly with their teeth or claws, whereas venom, no matter how sophisticated, requires time to disable prey. [2] In spite of the rarity of venom among extant mammals, venom may be an ancestral feature among mammals, as venomous spu