Animals Healing Humans Trivia Quiz

Answer: Deathstalker Scorpion

Considered to be the third most deadly scorpion in the world, the deathstaker scorpion first uses its pincers to get the better of its prey, such as small insects, crickets or spiders, before using its venom to immobilize and cause paralysis. While the painful sting, delivered from a stinger on its tail, is unlikely to kill a healthy adult, it can be fatal to those who are very young, old, or sick, causing both cardiovascular and respiratory malfunction.

The venom, however, contains chlorotoxin, which has been used to mark cancerous brain tumors that are sometimes too small to see, even with an MRI scan. This is important because, of course, doctors do not want to remove healthy brain cells unnecessarily. Studies are also being done to determine the venom's usefulness in the treatment of diabetes.

Answer: Cone Snail

Cone snails are lovely to look at - but beware! Don't be fooled by that lovely exterior! All of the over 900 species are venomous; however, only the larger ones can produce a fatal sting to humans. They have a barbed tooth, described as a harpoon, that delivers a venom used to capture food, such as worms or fish.

The Queen Victoria cone snail, which measures 35 mm-94 mm, produces a peptide that has successfully been used to create the drug Ziconitide; it is used to treat the neuropathic pain of those recovering from surgery and as a painkiller that might be able to take the place of morphine. The venom of other cone snail species has been used to treat people with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Answer: Funnel-web Spider

There are 35 species of funnel-web spiders that are all native to Austrialia; one member of the species, the Sydney funnel-web spider, is considered to be the world's deadliest spider with venom that can kill a small child within 15 minutes. "Hadronyche infensa", also known as Darling Downs funnel-web spider, also carries potentially harmful venom, which it injects in its victims with its fangs, sometimes with repeated strikes. It appears that the male of the species carries more toxic venom, especially in the early summer.

Scientists have found a component of the venom of "Hadronyche infensa", Hi1a, that appears to reduce brain damage of victims of strokes if administered within 4-8 hours. In addition, further studies have detected a peptide called gomesin in the venom that may be able to kill skin cancer cells without harming healthy ones.

Answer: Pygmy Rattlesnake

There are three known species of "Sistrurus miliarius" that live in the Southeastern United States. Because of its size, it is unlikely that the pygmy rattlesnake will produce enough venom to kill an adult human, but the same is not the case with its normal prey, such as birds, lizards, or frogs. A bite is, however, very painful to humans and can be life-threatening to small children.

As one aspect of the venom causes the victim to hemorrhage, the venom of the pygmy rattlesnake has been used to produce eptifibatide, which is used to prevent the clotting of blood during a heart attack. Likewise, it can help to prevent blood clots.

Answer: Scalloped Hammerhead Shark

Actually all sharks possess an oil in their liver which helps them to stay afloat, as they do not have swim bladders like most fish. Deep sea sharks, however, like the adult scalloped hammerhead shark that tends to move away from coastal areas as it matures, have a large liver that is 5-10% of its body weight, so it is one of the sharks targeted for fishing. Although they typically appear to be less aggressive than other sharks, it is a good idea to not become too complacent in the presence of any hammerhead.

While the scalloped hammerhead shark is fished for its fins, which are used in shark fin soup, it also has a larger liver than other sharks due to its size, so it can provide large amounts of shark liver oil. Shark liver oil has been used for centuries to promote healing and digestion; it has a component called squalene, which has been successfully used as an adjuvant in vaccines, which makes them more effective. While some conservationists have raised concern over the capture of sharks to produce squalene for the manufacturing of the coronavirus vaccine in 2020, it must be noted that not all of the vaccine companies use it to enhance the efficacy of their particular product. In addition, it has been found that all plants and animals produce squalene to some degree, and many companies use plant sources to meet the demand.

Answer: Leech

There are many species of leeches, but not all of them can be used for medicinal purposes. The "Hirudo medicinalis" leech has two suckers on each end of its body, but only the anterior sucker is used for feeding. Its jaws are used to cut its victim, after which they suck on the blood and inject a blood thinner which keeps the blood flowing. They can eat up to ten times their body weight in one meal, and may not have to eat again for up to a year!

The use of leeches goes way back in time, with the first written record of their use being found in the "Sushruta Samhita", an ancient Sanskrit text. Throughout history, however, the use of leeches was associated with bloodletting, which, over time, was no longer used as a cure. In modern times the leech has made a comeback in medicine, with "Hirudo medicinalis", providing an approved medical treatment according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2004. Leeches have been successfully used to reattach severed digits and close wounds. Because leech bites are said to be painless, some scientists believe that the saliva also contains a painkiller.

Answer: Coho Salmon

A very popular sport fish among fishermen, the coho salmon is considered to be a tasty catch today! It was also valued among indigenous people in the Pacific Northwestern part of the United States and Canada, and was used as an important item of trade with people who lived in interior regions. Like all salmon, they live in the ocean for 1-3 years before they return to their freshwater place of birth to spawn.

Humans produce a hormone called calcitonin that helps to prevent bone loss, however, as some people age their bodies may need more than they can produce. Fish also produce calcitonin, and the coho salmon's, called calcitonin-salmon, has been used to produce a nose spray that is used to treat osteoporosis in older women. The hormone has also been synthetically produced.

Answer: Gila Monster

There are only two lizards in the world that are venomous - and the Gila monster is one of them. It is also the largest lizard found in North America. While it is rather slow of foot, and is not much of a threat to healthy adult humans, its bite can be very painful, as it clamps down on its prey and really doesn't want to let go. In fact, some sources suggest that if a person gets bitten by a Gila monster, the only way to get rid of it is to submerge it in water! Above all, do not try to yank it free as the teeth are incredibly sharp.

Many peptides have been isolated from the Gila monster's venom; in 2005 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the drug Byetta, made from Gila monster venom, in helping to manage Type 2 diabetes. It is 53% identical to a hormone released from the human digestive tract to aid in the regulation of insulin.

Answer: Maggots

Maggots are the larvae of flies that belong to the order Diptera and suborder Brachycera, which consists of about 120 families, including houseflies and blowflies. While everyone would have to agree that flies are annoying nuisances, an investigation of their larvae is even more disgusting. Humans and other animals are susceptible to a disease known as myiasis, in which maggots infest the body and feed on the tissue of a live host. Yikes!

Maggots have been used since ancient times, however, for healing wounds. And now, the larvae of "Phaenicia sericata", a green bottle blow fly, has been approved for use in the United States for the task of clearing away dead tissue. They also serve as an anti-bacterial agent, sometimes working better than antibiotics that may become resistant to certain strains. Some doctors today use maggots as a last resort before deciding to amputate a limb.

Answer: Horseshoe Crab

Mankind is more of a threat to horseshoe crabs than the other way around. While they have a rather threatening looking sharp tail, it is used when they swim, not to attack. Inhabitants of the earth even before the dinosaurs, they are considered to be living fossils. "Limulus polyphemus" is the only North American horseshoe crab; the others are found in Asian locations.

You may already know that horseshoe crabs have blue blood, which is caused by the presence of iron used to carry oxygen to their body. While humans have white blood cells that fight infection, the horseshoe crab has amebocytes in its blood that do the same thing. The blood of "Limulus polyphemus" contains a protein, Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL), that is used to detect the presence of bacteria. It is possible to bleed the horseshoe crab without causing harm if the handler is careful not to overstress the animal or take more blood than is appropriate. The value of the blood is currently $15,000 per pint, according to one source.