Everything about Platypus Venom totally explained
The
platypus is one of the few mammals to produce
venom. The male has a pair of spurs on the hind limbs through which it delivers a cocktail of poisons that, while excruciatingly painful, isn't lethal to most animals.
Spur and crural gland
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 don't 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.
Venom
The crural gland produces a cocktail of venom, composed of over 250 different chemicals but with four major toxins. Of the four, three are
defensin-like
proteins (DLPs) unique to the Platypus. The different chemicals in the poison have a range of effects from lowering blood pressure to causing pain and increasing blood flow around the wound. A clinical report from 1992 showed that the severe pain was persistent and didn't respond to
morphine. There have been no reported human fatalities.
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