This animal can survive the bites of ten scorpions.

Our planet is a rather dangerous place in whichyou can die from almost anything. For example, in Japan you can buy fish, eating a piece of which you can quickly say goodbye to life. And in Brazil, everyone risks being bitten by yellow scorpions (Tityus serrulatus), which kill more and more people every year. This was not always the case, because they were actively eaten by Brazilian toads (Rhinella icterica), which are now not as many as before. In fact, they themselves, unsuspecting, saved the lives of thousands of people, but so far have not been well studied by scientists. But recently, Brazilian scientists nevertheless became interested in predatory toads and found out that they were able to survive even after the attack of ten poisonous scorpions.

Yellow scorpion venom kills people because it causes pulmonary edema

About the amazing abilities of Brazilian toads wasnarrated in the scientific journal Toxicon. Scientists led by Carlos Jared have staged real fights between toads and scorpions. Ten Brazilian toads and two yellow scorpions were placed in the terrarium. Toads did not become afraid of poisonous arachnids and immediately began to try to catch them. Ultimately, most toads caught the prey, but the scorpions managed to sting them several times in the mouth. But, to the surprise of scientists, the toads did not show any signs of poisoning.

Poison immunity

To make sure the toads are resistant to poisonscorpions, scientists conducted an additional experiment. They introduced the poison of two scorpions to one group of toads, because it is such a dose of poison that kills small animals like mice. Another group of toads received the poison of ten scorpions. Then scientists placed cockroaches in the terrarium and began to monitor the behavior of poisoned animals. But this time too, the toads showed their amazing stamina - they began to hunt and there are cockroaches as if nothing had happened. That is, Brazilian toads are able to survive even the bites of ten poisonous scorpions.

Brazilian toads are not susceptible to scorpion venom, but scientists do not yet know why

Endangered species

There are so many animals in the worldwho risk becoming extinct. These include Brazilian toads, the number of which decreases annually. Researchers believe that toads die out due to lack of water - people are actively cutting down forests, building various houses and roads, thereby depriving many creatures (including fireflies) of their natural habitat. In addition, the inhabitants of Brazil are not particularly fond of huge toads, and drive away salt and other substances that amphibians are afraid of from their homes. But if people had a better relationship with nature and animals, toads would still eat scorpions and annually save hundreds or even thousands of human lives.

At the moment, scientists know about 300 species of toads, but Brazilian are certainly the most amazing of them.

Yellow scorpions are happy to usesafe living conditions in which they are not afraid of predatory toads. They are found in large numbers in Brazil and neighboring countries. It is believed that the population of yellow scorpions is increasing because they multiply by parthenogenesis.

Parthenogenesis Is the ability of animals to create offspringwithout mating. In organisms capable of parthenogenesis, female germ cells (eggs) are able to develop without fertilization with sperm. In addition to yellow scorpions, snails, as well as some species of ants, spiders and lizards, are capable of parthenogenesis. We mentioned such animals in this article.

In the end, as always, it turns out thatpeople should treat nature with more care and accuracy. If we reduce deforestation and preserve animal habitats, it will become easier for us to control their population. The benefit from this is quite large - it turns out that in Brazil alone the number of deaths from scorpion bites will decrease. But scorpions cannot be completely exterminated either, because their poison is used to create drugs and even helps in detecting brain cancer.