Mammals, including humans, at some point in their evolution, may have become poisonous. The scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and the Australian National University revealed the theory.
The researchers found that the genes for the development of venom in the oral cavity are similarly present in reptiles and mammals, although it is not activated in mammals, unlike reptiles. The study shows the first evidence of a molecular connection between the venom glands of snakes and the salivary glands of mammals.
Australian scientists believe their discovery blurs the line between poisonous and non-poisonous species, and they say that if the environmental conditions were right, humans might have been poisonous as well.
