News Animals

Bite This: Borrowed toad toxins save snake’s neck

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

An Asian snake stocks its defensive arsenal by collecting toxins from poisonous toads, scientists report.

ROUGH NECKS. Tiger keelback snakes, found in Asia, carry defensive toxins in swollen glands on the back of their necks. When the snake eats the toad Bufo japonicus (inset), it arms itself with the toad’s toxin. A. Savitzky

The tiger keelback snake stores toxins in glands behind its head, says Deborah A.