Rapid Radiations and the Race to Redundancy: An Investigation of the Evolution of Australian Elapid Snake Venoms

Download
Author
Jackson, TNW; Koludarov, I; Ali, SA; Dobson, J; Zdenek, CN; Dashevsky, D; op den Brouw, B; Masci, PP; Nouwens, A; Josh, P; ...Date
2016-11-01Source Title
ToxinsPublisher
MDPIUniversity of Melbourne Author/s
Jackson, TimothyAffiliation
Pharmacology and TherapeuticsMetadata
Show full item recordDocument Type
Journal ArticleCitations
Jackson, T. N. W., Koludarov, I., Ali, S. A., Dobson, J., Zdenek, C. N., Dashevsky, D., op den Brouw, B., Masci, P. P., Nouwens, A., Josh, P., Goldenberg, J., Cipriani, V., Hay, C., Hendrikx, I., Dunstan, N., Allen, L. & Fry, B. G. (2016). Rapid Radiations and the Race to Redundancy: An Investigation of the Evolution of Australian Elapid Snake Venoms. TOXINS, 8 (11), https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins8110309.Access Status
Open AccessOpen Access at PMC
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5127106Abstract
Australia is the stronghold of the front-fanged venomous snake family Elapidae. The Australasian elapid snake radiation, which includes approximately 100 terrestrial species in Australia, as well as Melanesian species and all the world's sea snakes, is less than 12 million years old. The incredible phenotypic and ecological diversity of the clade is matched by considerable diversity in venom composition. The clade's evolutionary youth and dynamic evolution should make it of particular interest to toxinologists, however, the majority of species, which are small, typically inoffensive, and seldom encountered by non-herpetologists, have been almost completely neglected by researchers. The present study investigates the venom composition of 28 species proteomically, revealing several interesting trends in venom composition, and reports, for the first time in elapid snakes, the existence of an ontogenetic shift in the venom composition and activity of brown snakes (Pseudonaja sp.). Trends in venom composition are compared to the snakes' feeding ecology and the paper concludes with an extended discussion of the selection pressures shaping the evolution of snake venom.
Export Reference in RIS Format
Endnote
- Click on "Export Reference in RIS Format" and choose "open with... Endnote".
Refworks
- Click on "Export Reference in RIS Format". Login to Refworks, go to References => Import References