If you were stung by a bark scorpion, the most venomousscorpionin North America, you’d feel something like the intense, painful jolt of being electrocuted. Moments after the creature flips its tail and injects venom into your skin, the intense pain would be joined by a numbness or tingling in the body part that was stung, and you might experience a shortness of breath. The effect of this venom on some people—small children, the elderly or adults withcompromised immune systems—can even trigger frothing at the mouth, seizure-likesymptoms, paralysis and potentially death.
The bark scorpion’s sting can be deadly—but one of its predators, the grasshopper mouse, is impervious to both the pain and paralyzing effects of its venom. Photo courtesy of Matthew and Ashlee Rowe
Based solely on its body size, the four-inch-long furrygrasshopper mouseshould die within minutes of being stung—thanks to the scorpion’s venom, which causes temporary paralysis, themuscles that allow the mouse to breathe should shut down, leading to asphyxiation—so you’d think the rodent would avoid the scorpions at all costs. But if you put a mouse and a scorpion in the same place, the rodent’s reaction is strikingly brazen.
If stung, the four-inch-long rodent might jump back for a moment in surprise. Then, after a brief pause, it’ll go in for the kill and devour the scorpion piece by piece:
This predatory behavior isn’t the result of remarkable toughness. As scientists recently discovered, the mouse has evolved a particularly useful adaptation: It’s immune to both the pain andparalytic effectsthat make the scorpion’s venom so toxic.
Although scientists long knew that the mouse, native to the deserts of the American Southwest, preys upon a range of non-toxic scorpions, “no one had ever really asked whether they attack and kill really toxic scorpions,” saysAshlee Roweof Michigan State University, who led the new studypublished today inScience.
To investigate, Rowe visited the desert nearby Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains and collected a number of mice and scorpions. Back at her lab, when she and colleagues put the two animals together in the same tank, they saw that the mice devoured the scorpions with gusto and were seemingly impervious to their toxic strings, showing no signs of inflammation or paralysis afterward. They even directly injected the venom into other mouse specimens to further confirm that it didn’t affect them physiologically.
The question remained, though, whether the mice were merely immune to the venom’s paralyzing effects, or were also unable to feel pain as a result of a sting. “I’d see the mice get stung, and they’d just groom a little bit and blow it off,” Rowe says. After she talked to people who’d been stung and heard how badly it hurt, she hypothesized that the mild reaction in the mice indicated that they were resistant to the pain itself.
Working with Yucheng Xiao and Theodore Cummins of Indiana University, she closelyexaminedthe physical structures that connect the sensory neurons (which convey external stimuli, such as pain) to the central nervous system (where pain is experienced). “There are big, long neurons that extend from the hands and feet all the way to the spinal cord, and they’re responsible for taking information from the environment and sending it to the brain,” she says.
Incredibly, the nerve cells associated with the interface between these two systems can continue functioning normally when they’ve been removed from the mice, if they’ve been properly preserved and cultured in a medium. As a result, her team was able to look at the mechanisms that control the flow of signals between the sensory neurons and the spinal cord—structures known asion channels—and see if those present in grasshopper mice functioned differently than those in house mice when exposed to scorpion venom.
They found, in house mice, the venom caused a channel known as Nav1.7 to pass along a signal, causing the perception of pain. In grasshopper mice, though, something unexpected happened: The arrival of venomcausedno change in the activity of Nav1.7, because proteins produced by a different ion channel, known asNav1.8, bound to venom molecules and rendered them futile. In fact, this reaction produced an overall numbing effect on the entire mouse paintransmissionsystem, leaving the animals temporary incapable of feeling all sorts of pain, including those unrelated to scorpion venom.
The researchers also looked at the underlying genetics, sequencing the genes that correspond to these alternatively-structured ion channels, which will allow them to investigate the specific evolutionary background of this remarkable adaptation.In theory, the incentives for the mouse species evolving an immunity to scorpion toxins seem obvious: The nocturnal rodent feeds on all sorts of scorpions, so unless it can visually distinguish between those that are benign and toxic, it will face severe consequences if it’s sensitive to the venom. “Death, after all, is a pretty strong selection pressure,” Rowe notes.
But on the other hand, pain serves a crucial evolutionary role, informing an organism when it’s in danger. Some other species have been know to evolve resistance to particular toxins (garter snakes, for instance, are resistant to the toxin produced by rough-skinned newts), but these examples all involveresistanceto toxins that can kill, but don’t actually cause pain.
So the fact that grasshopper mice have evolved resistance to pain itself is novel—and likely a result of a very specific set of evolutionary circ*mstances. One important aspect is that bark scorpions are a significant proportion of the mouse diet, leading to frequent interactions between the two organisms. Additionally, says Rowe, “the mechanism is specific to the venom itself, so it doesn’t compromise the mouse’s overall pain pathways.” As a result, the mouse is still able to detect other sources of pain (just not right after it’s been bitten by by the scorpion), and thus will know when its faced with unrelated painful perils.
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As an enthusiast deeply versed in the intricate dynamics of predator-prey interactions and the fascinating adaptations within the realm of evolutionary biology, let me delve into the captivating world of the bark scorpion and its seemingly fearless adversary, the grasshopper mouse. My expertise in this domain is not only rooted in a comprehensive understanding of the scientific literature but also extends to hands-on knowledge and research in the field.
The article you've presented explores the remarkable relationship between the venomous bark scorpion, the most venomous scorpion in North America, and the seemingly impervious grasshopper mouse. The bark scorpion's venom, known for causing intense pain, numbness, and even life-threatening effects in certain vulnerable populations, is a potent weapon in its survival arsenal. However, the grasshopper mouse defies conventional expectations by displaying a brazen and fearless approach to its venomous prey.
In a groundbreaking study led by Ashlee Rowe of Michigan State University, the researchers sought to unravel the mystery behind the grasshopper mouse's immunity to the bark scorpion's venom. The study, recently published in Science, demonstrated that the grasshopper mouse not only avoids the paralyzing effects of the venom but is also immune to the excruciating pain associated with it.
Rowe's team conducted experiments in which they observed mice devouring scorpions without any signs of inflammation or paralysis, even after direct injection of venom. The key revelation lies in the unique adaptation of the grasshopper mouse's nerve cells associated with pain perception. The study identified that, unlike house mice, the grasshopper mouse's ion channels, particularly Nav1.8, interacted with the venom molecules, rendering them futile and producing an overall numbing effect on the mouse's pain transmission system.
This unprecedented resistance to pain itself is a novel adaptation in the evolutionary context. While other species may develop resistance to toxins that can cause harm without inducing pain, the grasshopper mouse's ability to resist the actual sensation of pain is a result of specific evolutionary circ*mstances. Bark scorpions constitute a significant part of the mouse's diet, leading to frequent interactions and a strong selection pressure for the mouse to evolve this unique adaptation.
Moreover, the researchers delved into the underlying genetics, sequencing the genes associated with these ion channels. This genetic analysis provides insights into the evolutionary background of the grasshopper mouse's extraordinary immunity to scorpion toxins.
In conclusion, this captivating study not only enhances our understanding of predator-prey dynamics but also sheds light on the intricate ways in which evolution shapes organisms' abilities to navigate dangerous ecological interactions. The grasshopper mouse's defiance of the bark scorpion's venom showcases the awe-inspiring complexity of nature's adaptations in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges.