Mice eat scorpions and howl in the moonlight

For the first time, scientists discovered the wild mouse Onychomys torridus living in the Sonoran desert (USA) capable of 'resistant' to the venom of the scorpion Centruroides sp.

The rat was not afraid of the venomous scorpion, but desperately used his foot to stab the ground to death. After eating the scorpion, the mouse stood up with two front limbs and howled his mouth in the moonlight. In addition to scorpions, crickets and spiders are also the favorite prey of this rat.

Rat onychomys torridus howling in the moonlight - (Photo: Michael and Patricia Fogden / Minden / NGS)

To uncover scorpion's 'resistance' venom, scientist Ashlee Rowe and colleagues working at Sam Houston State University (USA) inject a small amount of scorpion venom into the legs of Onychomys torridus mice. The mouse licked its feet, seemingly painless.

Normally, after injecting scorpion venom into the body of the mouse, in the process of spinal cord transmitting toxins to the brain activates a protein in the cell membrane called Nav1.7 that causes the brain to catch the signals. hurt. But in the rat Onychomys torridus, they found a protein mutation, called Nav1.8 , that helps block pain signals on the brain.

Leptobrachium mustache boringii - (Photo: China FotoPress / Getty)

The mechanism of 'resistance' to scorpion venom in rats Onychomys torridus opens a new step for the medical community to produce painkillers that treat erythromelalgia - redness and headaches in humans.

Some other interesting animal stories featured in 2013 are crocodiles using tools - tree branches on their mouths to 'trap' and re-feed birds to find nesting branches; Ambystoma maculatum spotted salamanders are the first vertebrates to know 'photosynthesis' ; or Leptobrachium boringii in the streams of Mount Nga Mi (Sichuan province, China) develop 'thorns' on the edges of the males to fight the opponent during mating season and then perform the task protect egg nest.