Scientists have discovered a species of fanged 'worm' that looks like it came from a horror movie. It is the first known amphibian to have toxic dental glands.
The US and Brazilian scientists found that the oral glands in the ringed caecilian, who are often mistaken for snakes, can reach up to 17 inches long and can incapacitate its prey like the frogs, worms, termites and salamanders.
Ringed Caecilians are known for its poisonous tails and emit a mucous-like lubricant to help them make quick dive underground to escape from predators. But researchers have found tiny fluid-filled oral glands in the upper and lower jaw of these creatures, which was discovered in Brazil.
The glands at the base of the caecilians' teeth are shaped like upturned spoons that produce enzymes that are commonly found in the venom of rattlesnakes. Researchers believe that they are the first amphibians to develop a system of injection of venom through their teeth.
First Discovered Venomous Amphibians
"We think of amphibians - frogs, toads and the like - as basically harmless. We know a number of amphibians store nasty, poisonous secretions in their skin to deter predators," says Dr. Edmund 'Butch' Brodie, Jr. of Utah State University. "But to learn at least one can inflict injury from its mouth is extraordinary."
Most amphibians are known for their toxin-filled skins as defense mechanisms against predators which differs from snakes which use their venom and inject it into the prey. Caecilians are mostly found in tropical areas like Africa, Asia and Americas.
Caecilians use a combination of facial tentacles and slime to move in their underground tunnels as they are nearly blind creatures. In 2018, the researchers reported that Siphonops annulatus secrete substances from both ends of its snake-like body.
Senior author Carlos Jared at the Butantan Institute in São Paulo, Brazil said that the biology of caecilians are still a black box because they are one of the least-studied vertebrates.
He added that these creatures produce two types of secretions, "one is found mostly in the tail that is poisonous, while the head produces a mucus to help with crawling through the earth."
The glands of its tail produce toxins that act as a last line of chemical defense to block hungry hunters from its hurriedly burrowed tunnel.
It was just recently that scientists found that caecilians produce venom through its tiny fluid-filled glands in the upper and lower jaw, with long ducts that open at the base of each jaws' spoon-shaped teeth.
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Caecilians Activate Their Oral Glands to Incapacitate Their Preys
Researchers believe that caecilians secrete these venomous oral glands to incapacitate its prey since they have no arms and legs, they are using their mouth to hunt. Evolutionary biologist and co-author Marta Maria Antoniazzi of the Butantan Institute said that these creatures activate their oral glands the moment they bite down their prey.
Furthermore, the researchers discovered that these dental glands originated from a different tissue than the slime found on the caecilian's skin. Specialized biomolecules are incorporated into their secretions, such as the high activity of phospholipase A2 protein, that are higher than those found in rattlesnakes.
The researchers published their findings in iScience.
