Scientists find snake-like dental glands in an amphibian for the first time
The ringed Caecilian Siphonops annulatus has a surprise in the mouth.
Carlos Jared
Almost no one loses sleep for fear of a toad bite, but you may want to welcome amphibians into your nightmares. Scientists first found evidence of snake-like glands in an amphibian, and yes, that’s pretty wild.
A team of scientists from the Butantane Institute in Brazil and Utah State University discovered “the first known evidence of oral venom glands in amphibians” in the mouth of a ringed caecilian, Siphonops annulatus. This creature, living in caves, looks like a cross between a snake and a worm, but is related to frogs and salamanders.
“We know that a number of amphibians store nasty, toxic secretions in their skin to prevent predators, but learning that at least one can cause mouth harm is exceptional,” said USU biologist Edmund ‘Butch’ Brodie Jr. in a press release on Friday.
The team had previously examined the caecilian skin glands, but later found out what Brodie called “tiny fluid-filled glands in the upper and lower jaw with long channels that open at the base of each of their spoon-shaped teeth”. Check out this memorable picture to see what he’s talking about.
Open wide. This ringed caecilian, Siphonops annulatus, has snake-like glands.
Butantan Institute, Brazil
The researchers published their results on Friday in the journal iScience.
Some amphibians, such as the notorious poison dart frogs, are known to deposit toxic substances on their skin. “The toxic skin glands form from the epidermis, but these mouth glands develop from the tooth tissues, and this is the same origin of development that we find in the reptile poison glands,” said lead author Pedro Luiz Mailho-Fontana.
The next step is to find out if the secretions from the tooth glands are toxic. In this case, the researchers suggest that poisonous glands in amphibians may have developed earlier than in snakes.
“Because caecilians are one of the least studied vertebrates, their biology is a black box full of surprises,” said co-author Carlos Jared in a press release from Cell Press, publisher of iScience.
Humans don’t really have to worry about Siphonops annulatus. The tiny amphibians like to eat insects, worms and frogs. They are not interested in eating people.
