Scientists in Australia have discovered that the blue-tongue lizard is largely resistant to the venom of the venomous red-bellied black snake.
Blue-tongues, the largest animals in the skink family, appeared to have developed a special resistance "specifically" to the venom of Australia's most venomous snake, University of Queensland (UQ) PhDcandidate Nicholas Youngman said.
UQ's Venom Evolution Lab looked at the effects seven different Australian snake venoms on the plasma of two species of blue-tongued skinks and three species of monitor lizards that would interact with these snakes in the wild.
The team found that giant carnivorous monitor lizards, which feed on red-bellied black snakes, were not resistant to the venoms.
"It was a shock discovering that the eastern blue-tongue, along with the shingle back, showed resistance specifically to red black snake venom," Youngman said in a UQ statement released on Monday.
"It seems these lizards have evolved a special plasma component -known as a serum factor - in their blood," he added.
"This prevents specific toxins in red-bellied black snake venom from clotting the lizards' plasma, which would lead to a rapid death inmost other animals."
Youngman said that the lizards were not "completely immune," but their chance of surviving being bitten by the snake was much greater.
Associate Professor Bryan Fry, the lab's head, said that monitor lizards - or goannas - seem to have had no pressure to evolve resistance thanks to their scales, which "act like medieval chain mail."
"Natural selection has invested in their armour and it's clearly working for them," Fry said. "These two divergent forms of resistance are fascinating examples of evolutionary novelty."
The findings were published on scientific journal Toxins. — dpa
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