[GRIMM]

This video is a year old, but still very interesting. This is the first scientifically confirmed poisonous bird. What amazes me is the fact that it has identical poisons as Terribilis.

Here is the main clip

And here is the entire video of their expedition in Papua New Guinea.
FORA.tv - Expedition: Papua New Guinea with Jack Dumbacher

 

[frogparty]

the poison's source is from the beetles it eats, so its a very similar mechanism to the way that p. terribilis sequesters its own alkaloids

 

[Julio]

great info, thanks for posting.

 

[erlese]

Wow!!!!! Very cool Grimm!!! Thanks for sharing!!!!

 

[Redhead87xc]

Knowing that this bird eats similar food items and has the same poison makes the theory that our frogs get their poisons from the foods they eat more concrete. Thanks for posting. Ir does sound weird though when you hear about animals like the Platypus and birds being poisonous or venomous. I would have never thought it.

 

[frogparty]

platypus produce their own venom. The birds, like the frogs, cannot without the alkaloids from their diet

 

[Ed]

The knowledge on pitohuis has been around longer than a year... see for example these free pubs

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publicati...pdfs/b89f3a1f-2c91-4df9-b58a-82e968645f6e.pdf

(and it should be noted that one of the authors in the above article was Daley who did so much work with dendrobatids).

And for a more modern take see Polyphyletic origin of toxic Pitohui birds suggests widespread occurrence of toxicity in corvoid birds

in this one, the thought is that unlike dendrobatids it isn't a defence against predators but ectoparasites.

Ed

 

[Redhead87xc]

platypus produce their own venom. The birds, like the frogs, cannot without the alkaloids from their diet

I know that but I have always found it weird that a mamal like the Platypus can produce its own venom. Not something you hear about often in mamals. When I think of posion/venom, the first things that come to mind are snakes, frogs, and spiders.

 

[frogparty]

several shrews are venemous as well. And there is a mole that has a venemous bite used to paralyze earthworms for storage for later consumption.
Nature never ceases to amaze.

 

[Ed]

several shrews are venemous as well. And there is a mole that has a venemous bite used to paralyze earthworms for storage for later consumption.
Nature never ceases to amaze.

Don't forget the slow loris..

 

[Golden State Mantellas]

Awesome video!

 

[frogparty]

Don't forget the slow loris..

I thought that the slow loris used a mechanism more attune to a hypersensitive response inducing anaphalaxis than a true venom. I guess proteins are proteins. Its still super interesting. When I was little, I always wondered why my cats woul kill shrews but never eat them. It wasn't until years later that I realized they were venemous

 

[mikefromearth]

How interesting! I had never heard of this poisonous bird before reading this post. Thanks for sharing!

 

[mantisdragon91]

There is actually an interesting discussion on this bird's venom and it's similarity to darts in the Chimaera edition Proffesional series book on darts published circa 2003.

 

[DJboston]

I've read this before. Very cool!

 

[GRIMM]

If anyone has the time, watch the full presentation. Definitely worth it.

I also found this presentation on the same website. Fascinating stuff! Totaly unrelated to the thread topic, but it's my thread and I dont care haha. I wish I took biology in school so I could experience the same hands on excitment this guy gets from the natural world. This one is even better then the first!

FORA.tv - Expedition Spotlight: São Tomé

If anyone has any links of awesome "expedition" type presentations similar to these post em up or PM them to me. I could watch them all day.

 

[fleshfrombone]

Also from Papua New Guinea is the Blue-capped Ifrita. Very interesting stuff.

 

[Ed]

Also from Papua New Guinea is the Blue-capped Ifrita. Very interesting stuff.

Check out the second article I linked above... It discusses how it could be more wide spread in corvids.

Ed

 

[Ed]

I thought that the slow loris used a mechanism more attune to a hypersensitive response inducing anaphalaxis than a true venom. I guess proteins are proteins. Its still super interesting. When I was little, I always wondered why my cats woul kill shrews but never eat them. It wasn't until years later that I realized they were venemous

That is the action in humans that are bitted (see the free pdf http://venomdoc.com/venomdoc/Mammals_files/slow loris chapter.pdf ) but all of the components aren't well known as of yet.

 

[fleshfrombone]

Check out the second article I linked above... It discusses how it could be more wide spread in corvids.

Ed

Even more interesting. Speaking of Corvids I just recently saw a crow flying after a squirrel. Crazy birds crows. I had one as a pet in California until it flew away. Super intelligent and a bit of a nasty streak to them.