>Question to biologists - is it usual for a scavenger to be poisonous? Are >there even any examples? I thought that was a feature of predators. Maybe >the scavenger bit is more a sideline that Vlad emphasizes for ribbing. There are only two examples I can think of: the Komodo dragon and related lizards (monitors and the like)--and a single bird who's name escapes me. of course dragons and monitor lizards aren't actually poisonous--there teeth just harbor a dizzying array of bacteria--so much so that a bite from either is frequently fatal, even though the wound itself is very minor. Victims die of sepsis. I worked with monitors, and the list of vaccinations needed if your were bitten was upwards of 27. Evolutionarily speaking, there is no reason for a scavenger to be poisonous, as there food is already dead. -- Department of Biological Sciences Palumbi Lab Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University Blinks Oceanview Blvd Pacific Grove, Ca 93950 jalipaz at stanford.edu phone: 831-655-6210 Often statistics are used as drunken men use lampposts... for support rather than illumination. Albert Einstein