Poisonous shrew with an ancient lineage: solenodon

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This is the most detailed writeup I could find by the researchers that captured the film footage: Detailed EDGE article

The Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus), a top EDGE species, is one of the world’s weirdest mammals. The two living solenodon species diverged from all other living mammals 76 million years ago, when dinosaurs still walked the earth. The Hispaniolan solenodon and its distant cousin, the Cuban solenodon, are the only two mammal species that can inject venom into their prey through specialized grooves in their teeth (the name “solenodon” means “grooved tooth”).

Video

It weights 1 to 2 Lbs and is about 10 inches long. It has large claws and a long, whiplike tail. They call it an insectovore

As well as having a venomous bite, a solenodon has glands in the armpits and in the groin which give off a goat-like smell. It readily defends itself against one of its own kind and is apparently not immune to its own venom since animals have been seen to die after fighting and sustaining minor wounds. It also probably attacks other animals savagely judging from the way a captive solenodon attacked a young chicken and tore it to pieces with its strong claws, before eating it. In moments of excitement it may grunt like a pig or give bird-like cries, but when pursued it stays motionless and hides its head, so it can be easily picked up.

Source: Cuyaya

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Did you know that the woodchuck and the groundhog are the same species? It’s true.

On the topic of shrews, I present Our Wonderful Nature

Sorry for the obscure link but the original youtube video is no longer available, and the film-maker’s website is not yet operational. The link I provided was working as of this morning.

Note: I highly reccommend watching at least 30 seconds of the linked video, it takes a while to get where its going :o.

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Woo. That thing is ugly! But also cute. Strange.

Anyway, why do we need to conserve it exactly? Just to have some around?

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Sounds a bit like El Chupacabra.

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Well that was the strangest nature video I have seen in a while.

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I don’t understand why an insectivore needs poison. Earthworms don’t fight back very vigorously, and red ants are too small to inject, I suspect.

I found a 1974 paper describing it as the “alpha predator” of this island which is kinda sad (i guess they forgot about the caiman.) I guess it could go after snakes and iguanas (which are roughly twice the size.)

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Too bad it’s not of an unusual size.

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To breed seventy-five pound versions of it to guard my lair?

Duh.

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Solenodon

XP 15
Small poisonous critter Initiative +2
Senses Perception +5; low light vision
HP 1
AC 15; fortitude 10; reflex 15; will 12
Speed 6; climb 3

Bite (standard; at-will) *Poison
+6 vs AC; 1 damage

Alignment: Unaligned
Str 4 Dex 17 Wis 10
Con 9 Int 2 Cha 1

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From the thread title, I was thinking this was going to be about someone’s mother-in-law.

I’ll be here all week.

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While not naturally strictly insectivores, my two tarantulas would take issue with this statement. As DemonkrazyGkrokSides has already indicated, the venom plays a role in digestion. So much so that in the unlikely even that either one might bite a human, they wouldn’t dare waste any venom in that bite. No sir, that is for digesting food.

Also, venom != poison.

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