Imagine a creature that looks like a mashup from a child’s wildest dreams: a furry animal with the bill of a duck, the tail ...

We have chosen the most poisonous snake, the inland taipan, the most lethal spider, the funnel web, and the much under-recognised platypus, whose bashful personality hides a set of poisonous spurs ...

A venomous jellyfish or sea anemone probably came first, maybe 500 million years ago, and venom arose in snakes some 65 million years ago, followed by monotremes (such as the platypus) 46 million ...

Watch the Museum's venom evolution expert, Dr Ronald Jenner, explore the toxic tactics of the platypus. Despite its odd look, the platypus is perfectly adapted to its environment. It has a furry, ...

So, while co-opting these genes seems to be a common strategy for evolving venoms, the details of the gene duplications reveal that platypus venom and snake venom are independently derived features.