Thursday, March 19, 2009
Solenodon paradoxus grooved incisors
Keeping up with the previous post, here’s a picture of the mandible of a Hispaniolan Solenodon. Notice that I have made an enlargement of the anterior part, outline in the top picture, to show the groove present on its second incisor. The red lines outline the borders of the groove. The specimen was collected in the Dominican Republic and is in the collection of the Department of Paleobiology at the National Museum of Natural History.
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Are there many specimens of S. paradoxus in museums in the US for study? I wonder how much the grooves vary, and whether there are any other histological specializations for venom delivery?
In terms of specimens, I'm sure there are enough S. paradoxus, there are about 20 specimens in Mammals @ the NMNH, plus the AMNH might have a number of specimens as well. S. cubanus seems to be more rare, at least in museums, and there seems not to be much published about them. On the variation, that is a very interesting subject to think about, individual, sexual, who knows I don't think anyone has ever look it up. I can tell you that the grooves are absent in the di2. There is a paper about the venom delivery, but I haven't got my hand on it yet. Here's the reference.
Rabb, G. B. 1959. Toxic salivary glands in the primitive insectivore Solenodon. Natural History Miscelanea 170:1-3.
I'm doing a report on the Hispaniolan Solenodon for Biology. Any good tips on these little guys?
As for additional info on the Hispaniolan Solenodon, you might find more
here at EDGE.
I've heard about the Solenodons having scent-glands that smell give of a goat-like scent, but I could never find the purpose. Is it known?
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