Journal article
Rapid radiations and the race to redundancy: An investigation of the evolution of Australian elapid snake venoms
TNW Jackson, I Koludarov, SA Ali, J Dobson, CN Zdenek, D Dashevsky, B Op Den Brouw, PP Masci, A Nouwens, P Josh, J Goldenberg, V Cipriani, C Hay, I Hendrikx, N Dunstan, L Allen, BG Fry
Toxins | MDPI | Published : 2016
Abstract
Australia is the stronghold of the front-fanged venomous snake family Elapidae. The Australasian elapid snake radiation, which includes approximately 100 terrestrial species in Australia, as well as Melanesian species and all the world’s sea snakes, is less than 12 million years old. The incredible phenotypic and ecological diversity of the clade is matched by considerable diversity in venom composition. The clade’s evolutionary youth and dynamic evolution should make it of particular interest to toxinologists, however, the majority of species, which are small, typically inoffensive, and seldom encountered by non-herpetologists, have been almost completely neglected by researchers. The prese..
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Funding Acknowledgements
Bryan G. Fry was funded by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship and by the University of Queensland. Syed A. Ali was the recipient of postdoctoral fellowship (PDRF Phase II Batch-V) from Higher Education Commission (HEC Islamabad) Pakistan. Timothy N. W. Jackson and Bianca op den Brouw were funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award. Daniel Dashevsky, Ivan Koludarov and Christina N. Zdenek acknowledge funding from the University of Queensland (International Postgraduate Research Scholarship). The authors also thank David Williams, Tony Harrison and Jonathan Lucas for profitable discussions.