Caterpillars might not be the first creature to pop into your head when you imagine venomous creatures, but this one has one of the most painful bites known to man. It’s not only highly venomous, but new research has revealed it evolved its venom with the help from some tiny, little friends.
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00:00 If I asked you to close your eyes and picture a venomous creature, what would you come up
00:07 with? One of these? Maybe even this? Well according to researchers from the University
00:12 of Queensland in Australia, this guy is not only highly venomous, but new research has
00:17 revealed it evolved its venom with the help from some tiny little friends. This is a caterpillar,
00:22 or the larva of what's commonly called the flannel moth. According to the new study,
00:26 toxins from bacteria could be responsible for having aided the development of the creature's
00:30 painful stings via a process called horizontal gene transfer. The caterpillars actually sting
00:36 via venomous spurs hidden beneath their luxurious coats. According to the researchers, it's
00:41 so painful it's been described as walking on hot coals, or the worst pain a patient
00:45 has ever experienced. While researchers were investigating why it was so painful, they
00:50 noticed it was quite different from other venomous caterpillars. It works in a very
00:53 similar way to bacterial toxin, binding to a cell's surface and eventually ripping
00:57 holes in it, with the researchers concluding the bacteria must have passed it along, writing
01:02 "The venom in these caterpillars has evolved via the transfer of genes from bacteria more
01:06 than 400 million years ago."
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