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Rare Venomous Mammal Filmed
Smivs writes "The BBC are reporting that footage of one of the world's most strange and elusive mammals has been captured by scientists.
Large, and with a long, thin snout, the Hispaniolan solenodon resembles an overgrown shrew. It can inject passing prey with a venom-loaded bite.
Dr Sam Turvey, a ZSL (Zoological Society of London) researcher involved with the program, told BBC News: 'It is an amazing creature — it is one of the most evolutionary distinct mammals in the world.'
Along with the other species of solenodon, which is found in Cuba (Solenodon cubanus), it is the only living mammal that can actually inject venom into their prey through specialized teeth.
Little is known about the creature, which is found in the Caribbean, but it is under threat from deforestation, hunting and introduced species.
Researchers say conservation efforts are now needed.
The mammal was filmed in the summer of 2008 during a month-long expedition to the Dominican Republic — one of only two countries where this nocturnal, insect-eating animal (Solenodon paradoxus) can be found (the other is Haiti).
The researchers from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Ornithological Society of Hispaniola were able to take measurements and DNA from the creature before it was released."
The footage came from the District of Columbia.
What will slashdot be without Cowboy Neal?
Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
Obviously they never met my ex-girlfriend...
i told you it was real
Jesus saves souls and redeems them for valuable cash prizes
Hey, do we really need to resort to these petty ad hominem attacks when referring to Ann Coulter?
Vermicious Knids are real!
"I'm just here to regulate funkiness."
Solenodons On a Plane! Hmmm, doesn't have quite the same ring.
Rodents of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist.
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Just from reading this article, I feel like it's the lead in to a Monty Python sketch.
"And in this cage," (displays empty cage), "we can see the rare Caribbean poisonous shrew, which jumps out and injects its' prey with venom. Bites are instantly fatal, so we have to use extreme..."
[A brown blur crosses the screen and attacks the speaker's face] "AAAAAAARRRRRRRGH!"
Do you like Japanese imports?
As we all know, mammals respect political borders.
Fact: Everything I say is fiction.
I know that, somewhere, a crazy genetic engineer is holding one of those little venomous beasts in his hand and thinking to himself, "These are cool. I wish they were bigger!"
His office is right next door to the insane scientist who is trying to breed 40 lb tarantulas, and down the hall from the aquarium-hugging genius who wants to cross flying fish with piranhas.
Andrew Borntreger
Champion of cinematic disasters
A mammal that injects venom into their prey through specialized teeth?
Sounds more like the his mother-in-law
Wonder why an insect eating mammal needs venom? Those must be some bad ass bugs he's hunting.
In Haiti? Voodoo zombie centipedes, at least.
Can it even kill us?
Who cares? I'm pretty sure we can kill it; the only important question here is how do they taste?