Sunagar, K and Abraham, SV (2021) The Curious Case of the “Neurotoxic Skink”: Scientific Literature Points to the Absence of Venom in Scincidae. In: Toxins, 13 (2).
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Abstract
In contrast to the clearly documented evolution of venom in many animal lineages, the origin of reptilian venom is highly debated. Historically, venom has been theorised to have evolved independently in snakes and lizards. However, some of the recent works have argued for the common origin of venom in “Toxicofera” reptiles, which include the order Serpentes (all snakes), and Anguimorpha and Iguania lizards. Nevertheless, in both these contrasting hypotheses, the lizards of the family Scincidae are considered to be harmless and devoid of toxic venoms. Interestingly, an unusual clinical case claiming neurotoxic envenoming by a scincid lizard was recently reported in Southern India. Considering its potentially significant medicolegal, conservation and evolutionary implications, we have summarised the scientific evidence that questions the validity of this clinical report. We argue that the symptoms documented in the patient are likely to have resulted from krait envenomation, which is far too frequent in these regions.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Toxins |
| Publisher: | MDPI |
| Additional Information: | The copyright for this article belongs to the Authors. |
| Keywords: | MeSH Animals; Bites and Stings; Evolution, Molecular; Lizards; Neurotoxins; Phylogeny; Venoms EMTREE drug terms snake venom; neurotoxin; venom EMTREE medical terms Article; early morning neuroparalytic syndrome; evolutionary algorithm; nerve paralysis; neurotoxicity; nonhuman; scientific literature; skink; snake; toxicofera; validation process; animal; bites and stings; genetics; lizard; metabolism; molecular evolution; phylogeny |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Jun 2023 10:01 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Jun 2023 10:01 |
| URI: | https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/81806 |
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