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Post by Vodmeister on Jan 28, 2014 21:18:47 GMT 5
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Post by Venomous Dragon on Jan 28, 2014 21:33:24 GMT 5
Except they arnt restricted to warm climates *cough*European adder*cough*, Venomous insects and reptiles reach up north as far as southern Canada and beyond.
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Post by creature386 on Jan 28, 2014 21:44:29 GMT 5
^Exactly my thought when reading the title. Anyway, he was obviously talking about why 95% of the venomous animals live in warm places.
By the way, it looks like the explanation he gave was the one that I assumed, too (most venomous species are ectotherm, ectotherms like warm climate). This video was nevertheless very informative to watch.
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Post by Venomous Dragon on Jan 28, 2014 22:31:21 GMT 5
Its also worth noting that most animals in general are found in warm climates (comparatively) but yes its quite obvious that is due to the ectothermic nature of most of venomous animals.
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Post by creature386 on Jan 29, 2014 1:03:08 GMT 5
Of course, but many of the venomous animas are found in deserts and there the biodiversity argument doesn't exactly apply.
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Post by Venomous Dragon on Jan 29, 2014 5:51:42 GMT 5
I have my doubts about deserts actually supporting or having more venomous species, than tropical areas, perhaps they make up a higher percentage of biodiversity but could also be explained by ectotherms doing better than endotherms in that kind of environment and higher percentage of ectotherm being venomous.
One must also consider that potentially the vast majority of snakes,Agamids,Iguanids and Varanids could very well be at least very mildly venomous (potentially all of them actually especially in the case of snakes and varanids).
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Post by Infinity Blade on Jan 29, 2014 7:35:04 GMT 5
Perhaps a more fitting title would be, 'why do MOST venomous animals live in warm climates', just saying.
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Post by Runic on Jan 29, 2014 21:16:20 GMT 5
^ it doesn't make that much a difference.
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Post by creature386 on Jan 29, 2014 21:30:21 GMT 5
I have my doubts about deserts actually supporting or having more venomous species, than tropical areas, perhaps they make up a higher percentage of biodiversity but could also be explained by ectotherms doing better than endotherms in that kind of environment and higher percentage of ectotherm being venomous. One must also consider that potentially the vast majority of snakes,Agamids,Iguanids and Varanids could very well be at least very mildly venomous (potentially all of them actually especially in the case of snakes and varanids). I haven't said deserts have more venomous species, I was just mentioning that a large percentage (which should not be ignored) of venomous animal lives in deserts. |
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Post by Venomous Dragon on Jan 30, 2014 0:02:34 GMT 5
I have my doubts about deserts actually supporting or having more venomous species, than tropical areas, perhaps they make up a higher percentage of biodiversity but could also be explained by ectotherms doing better than endotherms in that kind of environment and higher percentage of ectotherm being venomous. One must also consider that potentially the vast majority of snakes,Agamids,Iguanids and Varanids could very well be at least very mildly venomous (potentially all of them actually especially in the case of snakes and varanids). I haven't said deserts have more venomous species, I was just mentioning that a large percentage (which should not be ignored) of venomous animal lives in deserts. Perhaps it can be ignored considering the possibility that many, perhaps even most, species of squamata are in some form venomous, than the percentage of venomous animal would drastically increase in no desert warm environments. |
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Post by Vodmeister on Jan 31, 2014 21:55:13 GMT 5
Don’t confuse the shear number of venomous animals in tropical climates and cold climates, versus the ratio of animals to venomous animals.
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Post by creature386 on Jan 31, 2014 22:37:04 GMT 5
You have a point, but comparing the ratio is far harder because we would need a lot more data, but I guess that deserts may out edge tropical regions a bit in that category. I am not sure, though.
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Post by Venomous Dragon on Feb 1, 2014 3:29:12 GMT 5
Don’t confuse the shear number of venomous animals in tropical climates and cold climates, versus the ratio of animals to venomous animals. we are not even discussing cold environments at this point. I don't think you really understand what I have been saying, the ratio of venomous to non venomous animals is probably much higher than you think it is in a tropical environment. The shear number of Squamata and venomous insect species in tropical environments undoubtedly heavily out numbers the species found in desert environments, I have already said myself that deserts may very well have a higher percentage of venomous animals in comparison to non venomous but it is not something I would consider set in stone. |
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