Howdy all!
I posted this message in the Rear-fanged forum but did not get any response so I thought I would try here. I am not a HOT herper, but I am fascinated by this evolutionary characteristic in snakes, and I frequently read this and the other venomous forums. I have a couple of areas I am particularly interested in learning about. One is the Duvernoy's gland and the other is the Nuchal glands found in certain species, particularly Rhabdophis tigrinus. This gland apparently produces a secretion similar to the bufadienolide secretions produced by Bufo toads. I read two separate web sites relating to these things. The first site dealt with the Duvernoy's gland and stated that snakes that developed constriction later in their evolution kept their Duvernoys glands, including Kingsnakes and Ratsnakes, even though the glands are reduced in these species. This site also stated that what was thought to be an allergic reaction in a child to a garter snake bite was instead a venom reaction. Here is this link:
http://www.anapsid.org/duvernoygland.html
The second link discusses studies done on the Nuchal glands present in some snakes:
http://www.columbia.edu/~la202/CV/Myanmar_snake_bufadienolides_2001.pdf
I suppose the presence of a Bufo type gland in the neck of Rhabdophis tigrinus would not only make these snakes venomous, but poisonous as well, technically.
I was wondering if anyone here has seen or heard of these things. Thanks, and I apologize for this being so long.
Scott
