Venom Variation as a Window into the Ecology and Evolution of Snakes

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  Venom Variation as a Window into the Ecology and Evolution of Snakes Abstract Snake venoms are complex biochemical systems that function primarily in prey subjugation and defense, yet their composition varies extensively across individuals, populations, species, and environments. This variation provides a powerful framework for investigating ecological and evolutionary processes. Here, we offer a forward-looking synthesis of snake venom diversity that proposes new research directions and highlights how venom variation can illuminate eco-evolutionary dynamics across biological scales. We review evidence for ten key contexts in which venom variation arises, including within-population differences, sexual dimorphism, geographic structuring, ontogenetic shifts, seasonal changes, interspecific divergence, hybridization, convergent evolution, prey specificity, and venom resistance. Together, these processes demonstrate that venom phenotypes are shaped by interacting selective pressures...

Two cases of malformation in the scorpion genus Androctonus Ehrenberg, 1828 from Central Algeria (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

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Two cases of malformation in the scorpion genus Androctonus Ehrenberg, 1828 from Central Algeria (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

Abstract 
This note concerns two cases of Androctonus species recently sampled from Ghardaïa region (Central Algeria). A remarkable malformation of one chela in Androctonus amoreuxi (Audouin, 1825) and a case of an enlargement of one chelicera in Androctonus australis (Linnaeus, 1758).

Oumyma, Zouatine & Bissati, Samia & Sadine, Salah. (2024). Two cases of malformation in the scorpion genus Androctonus Ehrenberg, 1828 from Central Algeria (Scorpiones: Buthidae). SERKET  The Arachnological Bulletin of the Middle East and North Africa. 20. 125-130.