ArticleJournal of anatomy2022
Sharp and fully loaded: 3D tissue reconstruction reveals how snake fangs stay deadly during fang replacement.
Article in Journal of anatomy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Venom Revolution in Biomedicine: Unlocking Nature's Toxin Toolkit for Therapeutic Innovation.Toxicology reports · 2026Review
- The Diffusion Diaries: Diffusible Iodine-Based Contrast-Enhanced Computed Tomography for Vertebrate Natural History Specimens.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Armed to the teeth: The underestimated diversity in tooth shape in snakes and its relation to feeding behavior and diet.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Sharp and fully loaded: 3D tissue reconstruction reveals how snake fangs stay deadly during fang replacement.Journal of anatomy · 2022Article
- Anatomy in the animal kingdom.Communications biology · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Snake venom is produced, transported and delivered by the sophisticated venom delivery system (VDS). When snakes bite, the venom travels from the venom gland through the venom duct into needle-like fangs that inject it into their prey. To counteract breakages, fangs are continuously replaced throughout life. Currently, the anatomy of the connection between the duct and the fang has not been described, and the mechanism by which the duct is reconnected to the replacement fang has not been identified. We examined the VDS in 3D in representative species from two families and one subfamily (Elapidae, Viperidae, Atractaspidinae) using contrast-enhanced microCT (diceCT), followed by dissection and histology. We observed that the venom duct bifurcates immediately anterior to the fangs so that both the original and replacement fangs are separately connected and functional in delivering venom. When a fang is absent, the canal leading to the empty position is temporarily closed. We found that elapid snakes have a crescent-shaped venom reservoir where venom likely pools before it enters the fang. These findings form the final piece of the puzzle of VDS anatomy in front-fanged venomous snakes. Additionally, they provide further evidence for independent evolution of the VDS in these three snake taxa.
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