Our weddings seem incomplete without the naagin dance. Naagin is one of the most watched television shows in India. Could there be a reason for all of this?
A new research in this direction has linked early salivary glands with what eventually became venom glands in many animals.
While finding the answer to the question, ‘How did venom glands evolve in animals?’, scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and the Australian National University came up with this explanation.
While many snakes employ an oral venom system for securing prey, there are also mammals, such as shrews, and solenodons, that have evolved oral venom systems (based on salivary glands) for prey capture or defense.
Establishing a link between mammals and reptiles, the study said that there might be a common genetic ancestor. Only a handful of mammals secrete poisonous substances and that is very different from the venom secreted by snakes.
But the fact that it is all related to the salivary glands opens up possibilites of exploration in future.
Netizens are already talking about the study and its revelations.
Who knows there might be a lot of commonalities or differences?