venom vs. poison

other than venom is injected and poison is ingested, what is the REAL difference between the two? i mean like chemically,different toxins, etc.

I thought you meant the bands when I saw the thread title. :( Venom would beat Poison's arse! :D

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Originally Posted by Snakeman

other than venom is injected and poison is ingested, what is the REAL difference between the two? i mean like chemically,different toxins, etc.

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Venom is a poison. A poison is defined as "A substance that causes injury, illness, or death, especially by chemical means.". The difference is that venom comes from an animal and is not transmitted passively (such as the poison from a poison dart frog) but rather actively through a bite or sting.

Poison is by definition is any chemical substance that causes injury, illness, or death to an organism.

A zootoxin, or simply a toxin, is a poison produced by a living being.

So if you wanted to be more specific poison darts frogs produce toxins.

And as xdeus said a venom is a toxin that injected into its victim for the purposes of defense and/or predation.

Basically, toxins that are absorbed passively and are not injected are not venoms.

Interestingly, a new hypothesis, called the Toxicofera hypothesis, increases the number of venomous reptiles significantly. Especially, the number of venomous lizards. New research suggests that the monitor lizards (varanids) and iguanas produce venom. Here an article on it http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8331

A lot of people in the pet/breeding aspect of this hobby are worried about this research.

Many cling to the alternative explanation that the painful swellings and excessive bleeding that often result from certain lizard bites are caused by pathogenic bacteria in the creatures’ mouth. However, this alternative hypothesis is not much more than folk belief and has little if any real data and empirical evidence behind it.

An important point about the relative and situational effects of poisons and hence venom was made by 16th century Swiss Physician Paracelsus, "All things are poisonous and yet there is nothing that is poisonous. It is only the dose that make something poisonous." Hence, a breaded dragon might not really be consider "hot" to humans, but it might "hot" to its prey.

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Originally Posted by Vomitore

I thought you meant the bands when I saw the thread title. :( Venom would beat Poison's arse! :D

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Lol! I thought it was a comic book thread. I was thinking, "Well... I know who Venom is, but who the heck is Poison?"

And yes, Venom would totally kick Poison's arse. "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" has NOTHING against "In League With Satan."

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Originally Posted by Sausage

Lol! I thought it was a comic book thread. I was thinking, "Well... I know who Venom is, but who the heck is Poison?"

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That would be Venom vs. Carnage. :)

[QUOTE=Mendel's Balls]Poison is by definition is any chemical substance that causes injury, illness, or death to an organism....QUOTE]


Killer post Mendel! great explanation.

~mike