“hahaha, yes!” Seriously though, this feels so fun to have multiple recent vids featuring similar players that y’all gotta start doing this more often 😻
It often strikes me when we say something like "the species developed resistance to this" that it really means "a whole lot of the species died." The way we say it so often implies that individuals are sitting around strategizing and planning how to evolve. We even sometimes say "evolutionary strategy." But it's actually that a whole lot of individuals died out and a few survived through a lucky fluke that was then passed on.
Exactly. Life persists only through dying. An incomprehensible amount of dying. Taking everything we consider alive into account, every second that passes was the very last in the life of billions upon billions of individuals.
I think it is quite unfortunate that science communicators use this kind of language. It leads to the idea that there is conscious planning to evolution by natural selection. Why make communicating the facts more complicated by using such language?
@@keithjones9546 I think it helps in simplifying the outcome for people. But unfortunately, we live in a world where there are people who jump on every such simplification to claim "design." So I do wish that more science communicators took more care about that. Eons did really well here, though. That's what made me think of it.
@@keithjones9546 because we evolved to model the world in terms of agency it's easier to understand than talking in terms of statistics and optimization. even richard dawkins talk in terms of agency just for the sake of communication, knowing full well there is no agency on the gene level
@@oldcowbb While there is no agency, there certainly is causality and reason. Hence, talking in these terms is not completely unjustified, albeit potentially misleading as it presents it the wrong way around. A bit like, "It is, therefore it must be". The other, probably even more challenging aspect there is to it is the limitations of language itself (which certainly stems from the modus of perception you already pointed out). Personification of inanimate aspects of reality is not always a mere stylistic choice, but might sometimes become a necessity, especially when you're trying to jam-pack as much information as possible into a 10 minute long video, or---in stark contrast to the verbal debauchery I'm currently indulging in---strive to keep your sentences short. Sometimes being comprehensible is simply more important than being precise.
For a video with "Evolutionary Arms Race" in the title, I still got caught off guard by snakes evolving venom squirt guns in response to primates with pointy sticks.
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous of which is, ‘Never get involved in a land war in Asia,’ but only slightly less well-known is this: ‘Never go in against a Caecilian when death is on the line!’
It's there problem too if a animal of similar size is determined to kill them their very little they can do stop it Even a human with nothing but their hands and feet can still kill a snake long before their venom even takes effect
What I think is also fascinating is how some types of non venomous snakes adapted to look like venomous snakes to avoid predators. Some common garter snakes will pull back a flare their head like a cobra, and many snakes here in Georgia mimic coral snakes and copper heads...but in general...it's best to avoid all of them.
That’s almost more crazy then evolving venom. As it must be a visual only trait right? Like how would that work, the imposter snake sees the real deal and evolution just knows to copy that🤷🏻♂️
@@poogissploogisLots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of animals, over a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, loooooooooooong time. Literally billions of animals over millions of years, so practically infinite chances for mutations to develop and spread.
Snakes are, at the same time, scary and fascinating! Interestingly enough, they were able to take control of a whole island in Brazil. No people, just something like 2,000 snakes and our crew was (un)lucky enough to get this golden lancehead-controlled territory on camera. It's crazy!
“Humans need to learn how to love things we can’t touch” respectfully, no. I agree with you about possessing, but I am going to touch the friend shaped critter and we are going to become friends.
As an Australian I'd like to point out that Elapids are shy prey animals of humans who cause as many deaths per year as bees. So dont poke them but give them some love by appreciating at a distance, they are very pretty and chill.
@LimeyLassen I am also pretty sure more humans go out of their way to be around bees. They are a lot more important to human agriculture than snakes are.
@@nottelling7438agriculturally speaking sure but ecologically speaking snakes are very important for the stability and health of an environment by preying on small mammals like rodents that breed rapidly and can decimate species such as agricultural crops.
@@nottelling7438Bee deaths are almost exclusively from allergies which only leaves a very small segment of the population as the target. Anyone can die from a snake bite.
@@nottelling7438humans can survive without the foods that are pollinated by honey bees. Humans cannot survive having rodents eat every single piece of food we grow, which is what snakes prevent. It's quite arguable that snakes are far more vital to human civilization than honey bees.
Fun fact: different organisms adapted separately to prey on elapids across continents: In the Americas, colubrids like kingsnakes prey on coral snakes In Africa and Asia, mustelids and other small mammals like mongooses prey on cobras and mambas In Australia, monitor lizards prey on taipans and brown snakes. All eveolved high resistance to their venom separately
@davidls187, there is no such thing as an elapid, Elapidae is no longer a valid family, it is now replaced with five different families that are mostly not closely related to each other, which are Micruridae (Coral Snakes), Hydrophiidae (Sea Snakes), Acanthophiidae (Oceanian Asps), Bungaridae (Land Kraits and African Garter Snakes), and Najidae (Cobras and Mambas), Elapidae is no longer recognized because its original type genus Elaps is invalid, harlequin snakes are now thought to belong to the family Atractaspididae with their original genus Elaps now being renamed Homoroselaps, for this reason, the Elapidae family is now abandoned.
@@indyreno2933 I believe you're confusing the Elpidae family for the former Elaps genus. As far I know, Elapidae is still a valid taxon. If you have research that proves otherwise, I'd love to read it.
@davidls187, Elapidae is not a valid taxon anymore, cobras, mambas, land kraits, and african garter snakes are all more closely related to vipers, xenocalamids, and micrelapids, whereas sea snakes, oceanian asps, and coral snakes are all more closely related to aparallactids and polemonids and harlequin snakes (genus Homoroselaps (formerly genus Elaps)) now belong to Atractaspididae, for this reason, Elapidae is a wastebasket taxon and is therefore not a valid family anymore, it is now replaced with the families Micruridae (Coral Snakes), Hydrophiidae (Sea Snakes), Acanthophiidae (Oceanian Asps), Bungaridae (Land Kraits and African Garter Snakes), and Najidae (Cobras and Mambas), just like elephant shrews (aka sengis), tenrecs, otter shrews, and golden moles are all more closely related to elephants, sirenians, hyraxes, and aardvarks, shrews, moles, desmans, and solenodons are all more closely related to bats, hedgehogs and gymnures are both more closely related to both pangolins and carnivorans, and both treeshrews (or banxrings) and colugos are more closely related to primates, for this reason, Insectivora is a wastebasket taxon and is therefore not a valid order anymore, it is now replaced with the orders Macroscelidea (Elephant Shrews and Fossil Relatives), Afrosoricida (Tenrecs, Otter Shrews, and Golden Moles), Soricomorpha (Shrews, Moles, Desmans, and Solenodons), Erinaceomorpha (Hedgehogs and Gymnures), Scandentia (Treeshrews), and Dermoptera (Colugos and Fossil Relatives).
Definitely one of my absolute favourite videos yet. I love it when you are able to make connections across multiple species. I'd love to see a video on the evolution of the honey badger/ the muscular morphs
Maan, this was so well written, some of my favourite sentences "It turns out that we too have some anti-elapid tricks up our evolutionary sleeves" "A single group can cause an evolutionary shock to reverberate across the tree of life" and of course " the more we see that our evolutionary journeys are a complex entangled hissstory"
Ironically enough, at the speed and rate at which we're changing the planet, we fall into that category too. XD (For example, I wonder if the amount of plastics we're pumping out into the environment means we're hastening the evolution of species that can consume or perhaps even integrate plastic into their bodies in some way, like as part of their bones or shells.)
@@Zaxaresoh yeah dude, i totally agree w/ ur sentiments. Kinda like how hermit crabs use discarded things as shell-homes. The thought of plastic integrating into foodwebs is a wild thought. There's a Cronenberg film called Crimes Of The Future that kinda touches on that theme.
Awesome video! The idea that we can reconstruct the environment of a species' ancestors (lived near venomous snakes/didn't live near venomous snakes) from their current DNA is amazing
I had this playing in the background and every time you said "elapid" I heard "elephant" so I pretended I was learning all about the evolution venomous pachyderms. Loved it, 10/10, would recommend.
@@Kmr571-l8y off the top of my head, add an amine group that could accept a proton and hold a positive chafe, or have a carbonyl oxygen that could hold a negative charge
I remember when that DLC came out. They were so OP! Everyone was running some variation of the venomous build hence the huge variety. Took a long time for the developers to balance things again.
Kind of makes sense Caecelians would be in such a strong arms race with Elapids; snakes are famous for having a taste for frogs and Elapids are well known for having a taste for other snakes so what is essentially a snake-shaped frog would be almost like a delicacy to them.
@thenerdbeast7375, there is no such thing as an elapid, Elapidae is no longer a valid family, it is now replaced with five different families that are mostly not closely related to each other, which are Micruridae (Coral Snakes), Hydrophiidae (Sea Snakes), Acanthophiidae (Oceanian Asps), Bungaridae (Land Kraits and African Garter Snakes), and Najidae (Cobras and Mambas), Elapidae is no longer recognized because its original type genus Elaps is invalid, harlequin snakes are now thought to belong to the family Atractaspididae with their original genus Elaps now being renamed Homoroselaps, for this reason, the Elapidae family is now abandoned.
@tokinsloff312, Elapidae is not a valid taxon anymore, cobras, mambas, land kraits, and african garter snakes are all more closely related to vipers, xenocalamids, and micrelapids, whereas sea snakes, oceanian asps, and coral snakes are all more closely related to aparallactids and polemonids and harlequin snakes (genus Homoroselaps (formerly genus Elaps)) now belong to Atractaspididae, for this reason, Elapidae is a wastebasket taxon and is therefore not a valid family anymore, it is now replaced with the families Micruridae (Coral Snakes), Hydrophiidae (Sea Snakes), Acanthophiidae (Oceanian Asps), Bungaridae (Land Kraits and African Garter Snakes), and Najidae (Cobras and Mambas), just like elephant shrews (aka sengis), tenrecs, otter shrews, and golden moles are all more closely related to elephants, sirenians, hyraxes, and aardvarks, shrews, moles, desmans, and solenodons are all more closely related to bats, hedgehogs and gymnures are both more closely related to both pangolins and carnivorans, and both treeshrews (or banxrings) and colugos are more closely related to primates, for this reason, Insectivora is a wastebasket taxon and is therefore not a valid order anymore, it is now replaced with the orders Macroscelidea (Elephant Shrews and Fossil Relatives), Afrosoricida (Tenrecs, Otter Shrews, and Golden Moles), Soricomorpha (Shrews, Moles, Desmans, and Solenodons), Erinaceomorpha (Hedgehogs and Gymnures), Scandentia (Treeshrews), and Dermoptera (Colugos and Fossil Relatives).
Just because a video showed cats getting scared when cucumbers were placed nearby doesn’t mean cats afraid of cucumbers… in the wild, cats will eat snakes ❤
I appreciate the "they look like friends but are not your friends" warning. Have you ever seen a baby cobra? They're like. The most adorable things in existance.
Since creating antivenoms, no one has died of spider bite in Australia since like the 80s. Even though we have antivenom, people die of snakebite every year. Do not the snake. They're shy and will try to avoid you, but if they feel threatened, they'll absolutely defend themselves.
OT question: Many Blue Butterflies are "ant reared", or raised by ants, but info on which or how many species are thus is hard or impossible to find. Are my own lovely Blues in Arizona ant reared? We have five species here but no info on rearing. Please help!
Are there myrmica ants in Arizona? Cause that’s the genus of ants that raise blue butterflies in Britain. As for the Americas even if there are myrmica ants I have no clue.
I came face to face with a Mozambique spitting cobra on a river bank when I was a little kid. It was fixing my gaze looking up at me and I was staring back, no idea I was in any danger. Luckily a local man saw what was happening and ran over shouting, he hit the snake with a stick and explained to my parents what it was. Venom in the eyes is not as harmful as a bite but still frightening and painful and occasionally blinding. The bite is dangerous as it is very venomous. Poor wee snake was probably just nervous and scared.
Hey, can ya'll do an episode on all the animal phobias and their possible evolution? I like spiders, so can you guys do one on how we convoluted with spiders? 🙏😁
Its weird because he also said the name elapidae, but with the correct emphasis. Still, much ❤ for Blake. I'm sure if I talked for a living I would get stuff wrong, too
@MsJordanSilver, there is no such thing as an elapid, Elapidae is no longer a valid family, it is now replaced with five different families that are mostly not closely related to each other, which are Micruridae (Coral Snakes), Hydrophiidae (Sea Snakes), Acanthophiidae (Oceanian Asps), Bungaridae (Land Kraits and African Garter Snakes), and Najidae (Cobras and Mambas), Elapidae is no longer recognized because its original type genus Elaps is invalid, harlequin snakes are now thought to belong to the family Atractaspididae with their original genus Elaps now being renamed Homoroselaps, for this reason, the Elapidae family is now abandoned.
Over here in the US, there are very few spiders that are actually dangerous and the ones that are dangerous are recognizable. That's why I'm not scared of spiders. But snakes? Screw that. Can hardly tell them apart and the ones I can are rattlesnakes.
Mostly harmless. In fact most snakes can produce venom, but most of them cant get thier fangs into your skin or pump enough venom in to do damage. That said, there are cases where people have died from being bitten after handling supposedly "harmless" snakes. Just leave em be.
@@patreekotime4578+1 on just leave 'em be! Most of the time they don't want to have anything more to do with you than you with them. If you are in an area where there might be snakes, make some noise. Give them some time to get out of your way. Most would rather avoid contact than aggressively attack
The benefit is in the ecosystem services that snakes provide by hunting disease-carrying rodents, in the food they provide larger carnivores like birds of prey, and likely many butterfly effects we haven't yet studied. Most people get bitten by snakes trying to kill them, so I agree. Don't risk messing around with them and just walk away
Hi Blake, Great video. While I am not a fan of snakes, you held my keen focus all the way through it. Wait, a Spitting Cobra can hit a target 2.5 meters away? Damn! In other news, I have a grandson who is also named Blake. How cool is that?
I think another interesting point in this "arms race" is that Austrlaian taipans, which are an asian species originally, and possibly related to sea snakes, have a venom that is SPECIFICALLY DEADLY to PRIMATES... except... Australia HAS NO primates... so their venom's evolution was a direct response to pressure from Australia's indigenous HUMAN population.
I like to think anacondas are so old and basically immortal that somewhere hidden deep in the Amazon jungle is a thousand years old anaconda who eats once every five years and then goes back to slumber in a cave, basically a dragon
“And despite the fact that my last name ends with a vowel…” Hey that me! “And talks with their hands like my dad’s side of the family.” I’m feeling attacked
When Hank was saying his promo at the end I couldn’t help but think his partner for that show, Sarah Suda, has the best name for a news caster if people evolved from crocodilians. I think I’ve been watching too Many crocodile evolution videos. 😅
We should respect these deadly animals who give chills to the bravest beast. If it wasn't for these venomous snakes so many animals like humans would have easily imfested forests and lived there with no fear, while humans have found ways to still destroy forests, it is only when they organize it by doing mass clearing of forests, but a general surge of people won't happen because of these deadly animals, in a sense they are protecting the ecosystem by deterring humans and other outsiders. That's why in India we respect them a lot and consider it divine.
this is higly interesting looking at how some mediactions we use today (ace-inhibitors like ramipril for lowering blood-pressure for example) are based on snake venom. it makes me wonder how our reaction to those molecules has been changed and shaped in the past - without the arms-race, would there even be a save dose, a positive effect to be gained? how do other species of animals react to that kind of medicine - much stronger, not at all, completely different? it's so fun, how one comes along connections in knowledge in all kinds of topics, and it fills in the model of the world in the mind. i love it.
Are you curious about caecilians? Bizarre Beasts did a whole episode about them you can watch here! th-cam.com/video/Oc5Yt7tF910/w-d-xo.html
eh-lap-ids, not ella pids, and emphasis is on the "lap". eh LAP ids instead of ELLA pids
you guys should always link to the other channel in the comments.
“hahaha, yes!” Seriously though, this feels so fun to have multiple recent vids featuring similar players that y’all gotta start doing this more often 😻
Clever, as info on them is rare. I forget they exist sometimes 😅
Loving the collab work!
It often strikes me when we say something like "the species developed resistance to this" that it really means "a whole lot of the species died." The way we say it so often implies that individuals are sitting around strategizing and planning how to evolve. We even sometimes say "evolutionary strategy." But it's actually that a whole lot of individuals died out and a few survived through a lucky fluke that was then passed on.
Exactly. Life persists only through dying. An incomprehensible amount of dying.
Taking everything we consider alive into account, every second that passes was the very last in the life of billions upon billions of individuals.
I think it is quite unfortunate that science communicators use this kind of language. It leads to the idea that there is conscious planning to evolution by natural selection. Why make communicating the facts more complicated by using such language?
@@keithjones9546 I think it helps in simplifying the outcome for people. But unfortunately, we live in a world where there are people who jump on every such simplification to claim "design." So I do wish that more science communicators took more care about that. Eons did really well here, though. That's what made me think of it.
@@keithjones9546 because we evolved to model the world in terms of agency it's easier to understand than talking in terms of statistics and optimization. even richard dawkins talk in terms of agency just for the sake of communication, knowing full well there is no agency on the gene level
@@oldcowbb While there is no agency, there certainly is causality and reason. Hence, talking in these terms is not completely unjustified, albeit potentially misleading as it presents it the wrong way around. A bit like, "It is, therefore it must be".
The other, probably even more challenging aspect there is to it is the limitations of language itself (which certainly stems from the modus of perception you already pointed out). Personification of inanimate aspects of reality is not always a mere stylistic choice, but might sometimes become a necessity, especially when you're trying to jam-pack as much information as possible into a 10 minute long video, or---in stark contrast to the verbal debauchery I'm currently indulging in---strive to keep your sentences short. Sometimes being comprehensible is simply more important than being precise.
For a video with "Evolutionary Arms Race" in the title, I still got caught off guard by snakes evolving venom squirt guns in response to primates with pointy sticks.
the natures cold war is bonkers man 😂
One wonders what they'll come up with in response to weird tv snake hunters catching them with long fancy sticks.
That's what she said
@@CoolPsyco They spend to much time developing snake-jazz rather than science, that's how they lost the war.
monkeys uses unnatural defense, snake use natural offense
A limbless animal in an arms race is hilarious.
never mind sitting one out ...
Touché lol😂
It ends up as TWO by the end of the video.
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous of which is, ‘Never get involved in a land war in Asia,’ but only slightly less well-known is this: ‘Never go in against a Caecilian when death is on the line!’
Thank you Princess Bride reference! 😂
LMAO
>sudden pause<
...
>thud!
hahaha nice!
This comment wins TH-cam
they lost their limbs and made it everyone else's problem
It's there problem too if a animal of similar size is determined to kill them their very little they can do stop it
Even a human with nothing but their hands and feet can still kill a snake long before their venom even takes effect
😂😂
😂😂😂
They wouldn't have, if everyone didn't decide them loosing the limbs was an invitation to find out.
@@Painfulldarksoul*losing
What I think is also fascinating is how some types of non venomous snakes adapted to look like venomous snakes to avoid predators. Some common garter snakes will pull back a flare their head like a cobra, and many snakes here in Georgia mimic coral snakes and copper heads...but in general...it's best to avoid all of them.
Gopher snakes can rattle their tails when disturbed.
Milk snakes (harmless) are also known to imitale the coloration of coral snakes (venomous) through Batesian Mimicry.
That’s almost more crazy then evolving venom.
As it must be a visual only trait right?
Like how would that work, the imposter snake sees the real deal and evolution just knows to copy that🤷🏻♂️
@@Makabert.AbylonThat sort of thing makes me feel like evolution is some kind of conscious entity because HOW????
@@poogissploogisLots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of animals, over a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, loooooooooooong time. Literally billions of animals over millions of years, so practically infinite chances for mutations to develop and spread.
Snek: I'll just use status effects
Caecilian: IMMUNE
Snek: that's cheating
Caecilian: git gud
Snek used toxic
... it doesn't affect Caecilian..
@@prakharkulshreshtha6584Snake used constrict
Snakes are, at the same time, scary and fascinating! Interestingly enough, they were able to take control of a whole island in Brazil. No people, just something like 2,000 snakes and our crew was (un)lucky enough to get this golden lancehead-controlled territory on camera. It's crazy!
1:36 "because obviously... Australia" 😂😂😂
Australia is now a term that need not further explanation for "Everything is trying to kill you".
4:22 wait, reversing the polarity is a real thing that stops the enemy's weapons from hurting you? I thought that was just a StarTrek thing!
Also dr who
Klingon karaoke this Friday in Nor Cal star trek
it's originally from Gulliver's Travels, I believe. something something keep laputa from falling.
Ish? It only helps if both things are polarized to begin with, like having two magnets and flipping one around
"There's two of us. I'm reversing and you're reversing back again we're confusing the polarity."
As Hank said, They ARE friends, just far away friends. Like Bobcats. Humans need to learn how to love things we can't touch or possess.
nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed
"far away friends you can't touch or possess" so basically your dad who went to buy milk
“Humans need to learn how to love things we can’t touch” respectfully, no.
I agree with you about possessing, but I am going to touch the friend shaped critter and we are going to become friends.
They evolved ranged weaponry specifically for us, they didn’t even want to be far away friends 🥺
@@declanmadden6058 sometimes we, too, are scared and defensive in the face of new relationships, that doesn’t mean we should give up 🥺🖤
PBS EONS is like your comfort channel when you’re sick
what's even better is that you don'ṭ even have to be sick to find comfort in Eons
Chicken soup ❤
Yeah no politics or controversy, just cool facts about the awesome world we're apart of.
As an Australian I'd like to point out that Elapids are shy prey animals of humans who cause as many deaths per year as bees. So dont poke them but give them some love by appreciating at a distance, they are very pretty and chill.
I'm pretty sure there are more bees in the world than cobras
@LimeyLassen I am also pretty sure more humans go out of their way to be around bees. They are a lot more important to human agriculture than snakes are.
@@nottelling7438agriculturally speaking sure but ecologically speaking snakes are very important for the stability and health of an environment by preying on small mammals like rodents that breed rapidly and can decimate species such as agricultural crops.
@@nottelling7438Bee deaths are almost exclusively from allergies which only leaves a very small segment of the population as the target. Anyone can die from a snake bite.
@@nottelling7438humans can survive without the foods that are pollinated by honey bees. Humans cannot survive having rodents eat every single piece of food we grow, which is what snakes prevent.
It's quite arguable that snakes are far more vital to human civilization than honey bees.
"When you fight history, it fights back"
Yeah that's about the hominids and the cobras
Fun fact: different organisms adapted separately to prey on elapids across continents:
In the Americas, colubrids like kingsnakes prey on coral snakes
In Africa and Asia, mustelids and other small mammals like mongooses prey on cobras and mambas
In Australia, monitor lizards prey on taipans and brown snakes.
All eveolved high resistance to their venom separately
@davidls187, there is no such thing as an elapid, Elapidae is no longer a valid family, it is now replaced with five different families that are mostly not closely related to each other, which are Micruridae (Coral Snakes), Hydrophiidae (Sea Snakes), Acanthophiidae (Oceanian Asps), Bungaridae (Land Kraits and African Garter Snakes), and Najidae (Cobras and Mambas), Elapidae is no longer recognized because its original type genus Elaps is invalid, harlequin snakes are now thought to belong to the family Atractaspididae with their original genus Elaps now being renamed Homoroselaps, for this reason, the Elapidae family is now abandoned.
@@indyreno2933 I believe you're confusing the Elpidae family for the former Elaps genus. As far I know, Elapidae is still a valid taxon. If you have research that proves otherwise, I'd love to read it.
@davidls187, Elapidae is not a valid taxon anymore, cobras, mambas, land kraits, and african garter snakes are all more closely related to vipers, xenocalamids, and micrelapids, whereas sea snakes, oceanian asps, and coral snakes are all more closely related to aparallactids and polemonids and harlequin snakes (genus Homoroselaps (formerly genus Elaps)) now belong to Atractaspididae, for this reason, Elapidae is a wastebasket taxon and is therefore not a valid family anymore, it is now replaced with the families Micruridae (Coral Snakes), Hydrophiidae (Sea Snakes), Acanthophiidae (Oceanian Asps), Bungaridae (Land Kraits and African Garter Snakes), and Najidae (Cobras and Mambas), just like elephant shrews (aka sengis), tenrecs, otter shrews, and golden moles are all more closely related to elephants, sirenians, hyraxes, and aardvarks, shrews, moles, desmans, and solenodons are all more closely related to bats, hedgehogs and gymnures are both more closely related to both pangolins and carnivorans, and both treeshrews (or banxrings) and colugos are more closely related to primates, for this reason, Insectivora is a wastebasket taxon and is therefore not a valid order anymore, it is now replaced with the orders Macroscelidea (Elephant Shrews and Fossil Relatives), Afrosoricida (Tenrecs, Otter Shrews, and Golden Moles), Soricomorpha (Shrews, Moles, Desmans, and Solenodons), Erinaceomorpha (Hedgehogs and Gymnures), Scandentia (Treeshrews), and Dermoptera (Colugos and Fossil Relatives).
WTF... Monitor lizards were intimidating already, and now you tell me some of them HUNT TAIPANS!?
Definitely one of my absolute favourite videos yet. I love it when you are able to make connections across multiple species.
I'd love to see a video on the evolution of the honey badger/ the muscular morphs
Caecilians used to talk with their hands but lost them in the arms race. That's why they're so quiet nowadays.
Imagine me standing up to boo, applaud, and shake my head emphatically.
The honey badger is so stubborn that evolution lost and said fine You can be resistant 😂
You guys make A+ internet content. Thank you for all the great videos!
Maan, this was so well written, some of my favourite sentences
"It turns out that we too have some anti-elapid tricks up our evolutionary sleeves"
"A single group can cause an evolutionary shock to reverberate across the tree of life"
and of course
" the more we see that our evolutionary journeys are a complex entangled hissstory"
No wonder, all primates have this primordial fear of snakes. Just watch our cousin, Mr. Monkey going bonkers over the sight of a snake.
When your evolution forces everything else to change...
Ironically enough, at the speed and rate at which we're changing the planet, we fall into that category too. XD (For example, I wonder if the amount of plastics we're pumping out into the environment means we're hastening the evolution of species that can consume or perhaps even integrate plastic into their bodies in some way, like as part of their bones or shells.)
As TierZoo would say a single balance patch can change the entire meta
@Zaxares well there's already bacteria and worms that can eat plastic
human moment:
@@Zaxaresoh yeah dude, i totally agree w/ ur sentiments. Kinda like how hermit crabs use discarded things as shell-homes. The thought of plastic integrating into foodwebs is a wild thought. There's a Cronenberg film called Crimes Of The Future that kinda touches on that theme.
Awesome video! The idea that we can reconstruct the environment of a species' ancestors (lived near venomous snakes/didn't live near venomous snakes) from their current DNA is amazing
"No elapids have ever set foot...there....er....belly." That is one if the funniest things I ever heard. Blake, you're priceless.
I had this playing in the background and every time you said "elapid" I heard "elephant" so I pretended I was learning all about the evolution venomous pachyderms. Loved it, 10/10, would recommend.
"Honeybadgers don't care"
I want a T-Shirt, please!
We had them.... in the 90's...
@@tbella5186 yeah, well, I 'm old and only recently joined the TH-cam brigade. It shows, huh?
@reginat5749 - There used to be a great TH-cam video about Honey Badger and how HB don't care. (They don't either - they will tackle a lion!)
@@MossyMozart Thank you! I felt a bit stupid for not knowing. I have now looked it up: so not 90s then. I definitely fell for the snark :-).
@@MossyMozart but honeybadgers are amazing!
As a chemist, that flipping of the charge to repel the toxin is yummmmmyyy 🤤
How do you even do that , I mean in a biological sense
@@Kmr571-l8y off the top of my head, add an amine group that could accept a proton and hold a positive chafe, or have a carbonyl oxygen that could hold a negative charge
@@dominicconway1112 ya amines are zwitter ions
Me with onions.
Kudos for using the figures from the papers and including the reference!
Thanks!
That's so wild. Evolution is crazy
it’s the greatest story ever told
@@WeeWeeJumbo - And completely ENTHRALLING!
Didn’t expect the Hank Green cameo but you always love to see it
Honey Badgers don't care.
Snakes are fascinating creatures. My son used to keep venomous snakes; he taught people how to handle them safely.
Your son sounds great
I always wonder how snakes can just store such a potent venom around... and be like yeah i'm fine and dandy holding neurotoxins in and near my mouth.
"Honey Badgers don't care", I HOWLED at the all ages version of an old favorite meme, thank you for that. XD
Imagine literally changing your body on a molecular level to become immune to snake venom. Nature is amazing
Thissss is a great video. Love it
I remember when that DLC came out. They were so OP!
Everyone was running some variation of the venomous build hence the huge variety.
Took a long time for the developers to balance things again.
3:01 I always recognize your studio artist's work; I love it!
Cobras. Taipans. Sea snakes. Mambas. Long ago the for slithery Bois lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the cobras attacked.
I think this is the best episode I’ve seen from the Eons team. Great stuff
Kind of makes sense Caecelians would be in such a strong arms race with Elapids; snakes are famous for having a taste for frogs and Elapids are well known for having a taste for other snakes so what is essentially a snake-shaped frog would be almost like a delicacy to them.
A snake would find a snake easiest to eat
Small noodle fits in big noodle
@thenerdbeast7375, there is no such thing as an elapid, Elapidae is no longer a valid family, it is now replaced with five different families that are mostly not closely related to each other, which are Micruridae (Coral Snakes), Hydrophiidae (Sea Snakes), Acanthophiidae (Oceanian Asps), Bungaridae (Land Kraits and African Garter Snakes), and Najidae (Cobras and Mambas), Elapidae is no longer recognized because its original type genus Elaps is invalid, harlequin snakes are now thought to belong to the family Atractaspididae with their original genus Elaps now being renamed Homoroselaps, for this reason, the Elapidae family is now abandoned.
@@indyreno2933 Source?
@tokinsloff312, Elapidae is not a valid taxon anymore, cobras, mambas, land kraits, and african garter snakes are all more closely related to vipers, xenocalamids, and micrelapids, whereas sea snakes, oceanian asps, and coral snakes are all more closely related to aparallactids and polemonids and harlequin snakes (genus Homoroselaps (formerly genus Elaps)) now belong to Atractaspididae, for this reason, Elapidae is a wastebasket taxon and is therefore not a valid family anymore, it is now replaced with the families Micruridae (Coral Snakes), Hydrophiidae (Sea Snakes), Acanthophiidae (Oceanian Asps), Bungaridae (Land Kraits and African Garter Snakes), and Najidae (Cobras and Mambas), just like elephant shrews (aka sengis), tenrecs, otter shrews, and golden moles are all more closely related to elephants, sirenians, hyraxes, and aardvarks, shrews, moles, desmans, and solenodons are all more closely related to bats, hedgehogs and gymnures are both more closely related to both pangolins and carnivorans, and both treeshrews (or banxrings) and colugos are more closely related to primates, for this reason, Insectivora is a wastebasket taxon and is therefore not a valid order anymore, it is now replaced with the orders Macroscelidea (Elephant Shrews and Fossil Relatives), Afrosoricida (Tenrecs, Otter Shrews, and Golden Moles), Soricomorpha (Shrews, Moles, Desmans, and Solenodons), Erinaceomorpha (Hedgehogs and Gymnures), Scandentia (Treeshrews), and Dermoptera (Colugos and Fossil Relatives).
@@indyreno2933 That's not a source, it's just spam. Where is the research paper that shows the evidence?
Welp, guess that's a check on "Spitting Snake Existence" in our almost endless mistakes as humanity checklist on this green and blue planet
Remember people;
Venom is offensive, poison is defensive.
This comment is offensive. HA! Kidding!
If it bites you and you die, it was venomous
If you bite it and you die, it was poisonous
Or the old "It bites you, you die. You bite it, you die." 😂
To be fair... if you eat it and it makes you sick... a venom can also be a poison.
@@TheKosstImogen
What if it bites itself and I die
The way homie says elApids is crazy
I was beginning to think I’ve been saying it wrong this whole time💀
This is why most writing systems are phonetic. This whole conversation is avoidable.
how do you say it?
uh LAY pids?
how can you tell that you’re right? ‘elapid’ looks mighty Latinate to me
@@WeeWeeJumboI immediately had the same reaction to the op but thought about it a second and totally agree with what you said.
No you put the emphasis on the A
and thus cats developed a crippling phobia of cucumbers
Just because a video showed cats getting scared when cucumbers were placed nearby doesn’t mean cats afraid of cucumbers… in the wild, cats will eat snakes ❤
That was an interesting episode, thanks for expanding my knowledge.
I appreciate the "they look like friends but are not your friends" warning. Have you ever seen a baby cobra? They're like. The most adorable things in existance.
Blake has some sick pythons of his own
Not gonna touch that, even with a long stick or 2.5m spitting venom
Great video, bringing science to a wider public. Keep it up!
Since creating antivenoms, no one has died of spider bite in Australia since like the 80s. Even though we have antivenom, people die of snakebite every year.
Do not the snake. They're shy and will try to avoid you, but if they feel threatened, they'll absolutely defend themselves.
OT question: Many Blue Butterflies are "ant reared", or raised by ants, but info on which or how many species are thus is hard or impossible to find. Are my own lovely Blues in Arizona ant reared? We have five species here but no info on rearing. Please help!
Are there myrmica ants in Arizona? Cause that’s the genus of ants that raise blue butterflies in Britain. As for the Americas even if there are myrmica ants I have no clue.
I saw an adder today so the timing of this video is perfect for me
I didn't even see the pbs logo, just saw the pbs style tumbnail and automatically and inmediately taped on it
I have been following everything crash course ever since Jolie and Pitt were the OG couple(rip) and I love how beautifully this has branched out
I came face to face with a Mozambique spitting cobra on a river bank when I was a little kid. It was fixing my gaze looking up at me and I was staring back, no idea I was in any danger. Luckily a local man saw what was happening and ran over shouting, he hit the snake with a stick and explained to my parents what it was. Venom in the eyes is not as harmful as a bite but still frightening and painful and occasionally blinding. The bite is dangerous as it is very venomous. Poor wee snake was probably just nervous and scared.
It should be noted that a limbless animal developed a ranged weapon. If it wasn't already real, nobody would believe something so absurd was possible.
I learned about Cecilians two days ago and now this. This is awesome 👏🏽
Fascinating stuff - another great watch
Hey, can ya'll do an episode on all the animal phobias and their possible evolution? I like spiders, so can you guys do one on how we convoluted with spiders? 🙏😁
That would be somewhere on the channel PBS Bizarre Beasts if my memory serves me
Probably when we ate the 8th one
I am not one of those people who wants to own snakes and fondle them, but I CAN appreciate how beautiful they are. Venom is a real drag, though.
lol at calling them "Ella-pids" it's "ee-lap-ids"
I wasn’t going to say anything because I don’t want to volunteer myself as an idiot so blatantly if I was wrong, but I’m glad you said something 😅
Its weird because he also said the name elapidae, but with the correct emphasis. Still, much ❤ for Blake. I'm sure if I talked for a living I would get stuff wrong, too
Right? He says elapidae one way (the way I learned in my herps classes) and jumps right back to "Ella-pids"... LOL!
@MsJordanSilver, there is no such thing as an elapid, Elapidae is no longer a valid family, it is now replaced with five different families that are mostly not closely related to each other, which are Micruridae (Coral Snakes), Hydrophiidae (Sea Snakes), Acanthophiidae (Oceanian Asps), Bungaridae (Land Kraits and African Garter Snakes), and Najidae (Cobras and Mambas), Elapidae is no longer recognized because its original type genus Elaps is invalid, harlequin snakes are now thought to belong to the family Atractaspididae with their original genus Elaps now being renamed Homoroselaps, for this reason, the Elapidae family is now abandoned.
Thank you, because that's how I always said it and I thought it just made sense. Maybe I heard it somewhere.
I wonder if this is a reason we have an innate wariness of snakes. They were such a bane to our ancestors that a built-in fear of them came along.
I think so.
Most snakes are harmless.
But why take risks?
Over here in the US, there are very few spiders that are actually dangerous and the ones that are dangerous are recognizable. That's why I'm not scared of spiders.
But snakes? Screw that. Can hardly tell them apart and the ones I can are rattlesnakes.
@@alexism9656Here in Georgia you have everything from coral snakes to copper heads to water moccasins...
Mostly harmless. In fact most snakes can produce venom, but most of them cant get thier fangs into your skin or pump enough venom in to do damage. That said, there are cases where people have died from being bitten after handling supposedly "harmless" snakes. Just leave em be.
@@patreekotime4578+1 on just leave 'em be! Most of the time they don't want to have anything more to do with you than you with them. If you are in an area where there might be snakes, make some noise. Give them some time to get out of your way. Most would rather avoid contact than aggressively attack
The benefit is in the ecosystem services that snakes provide by hunting disease-carrying rodents, in the food they provide larger carnivores like birds of prey, and likely many butterfly effects we haven't yet studied. Most people get bitten by snakes trying to kill them, so I agree. Don't risk messing around with them and just walk away
And let the nightmares begin.
Blake’s bad jokes make my day better ❤
Always funny “Because, obviously, Australia”
It is so cool how we evolved together.
I kept hearing "elephant venom"! Oh well, time to get my hearing checked.
Thanks for this very interesting video.
Cats be like "such a big toy just a bit slow"
6:22 "honey badger don't care" that's one way to put it😂
Cobra have venomous fangs
Early hominin proceed to poke with longer sticks
Cobra evolved a Spitting Attack to shoot out the venomous liquid😅
Crazy to think a few snakes almost eliminated the entire population of Sicily...
Any video about snakes is a Thumbs-Up by default.
The scale of the punning in this episode is just incredible.
Came looking for the pun thread. Slithered away hiss-appointed.
@@dr.kraemer I'm sure if you look hard enough you'll find something asp-irational.
Blake is the best host by far.
oh, you're trying to start an arms race
@Fellow_Follower - Yes, except for the others!
this video shows how evolution is basically a fact. Great to send to anyone that doubts it
My ancestors developed the definitive anti-snake characteristic of tap-dancing on the head of such critters.
Hi Blake, Great video.
While I am not a fan of snakes, you held my keen focus all the way through it.
Wait, a Spitting Cobra can hit a target 2.5 meters away? Damn!
In other news, I have a grandson who is also named Blake. How cool is that?
Pope John XII provides Patreon support to Eons. That's nice of him.
I think another interesting point in this "arms race" is that Austrlaian taipans, which are an asian species originally, and possibly related to sea snakes, have a venom that is SPECIFICALLY DEADLY to PRIMATES... except... Australia HAS NO primates... so their venom's evolution was a direct response to pressure from Australia's indigenous HUMAN population.
Speaking as a fellow 'neurospicy', I never would have guessed, Blake.
I like to think anacondas are so old and basically immortal that somewhere hidden deep in the Amazon jungle is a thousand years old anaconda who eats once every five years and then goes back to slumber in a cave, basically a dragon
Will there ever be another mysteries of deep time season? PLEEEAAASE 💗
Given that its snakes, odds are the frequent use of achilles heel is anatomically accurate.
Another excellent vid. :)
PBS Eons - Do not go out and play with venous snakes. They may look like fun, but they are not.
***the more you know theme plays***
Thank you so much!
Love the content, also I could listen to him read a phone book.
“And despite the fact that my last name ends with a vowel…”
Hey that me!
“And talks with their hands like my dad’s side of the family.”
I’m feeling attacked
Excellent video
Do a video on why no air breathers that returned to the water ever re evolved ability to absorb oxygen from the water
I think there is a sea serpent that has gills
In addition to the diffusion of oxygen that some do in their scales
Turtles that live under the ice in winter can absorb oxygen through their butt
Umm, Kevin Costner has gills...
@@Cillana- As one does in challenging times. 😂
Various species also evolve their behaviour. Cats will jump when they see cucumber because they think it's snake.😂
And some birds mob snakes.
When Hank was saying his promo at the end I couldn’t help but think his partner for that show, Sarah Suda, has the best name for a news caster if people evolved from crocodilians. I think I’ve been watching too
Many crocodile evolution videos. 😅
Steve Irwin taught me about the "Spitta's", and I was hoping they would be brought up!
You could say they came up with the... CAECILIAN DEFENSE!
Evolution is so fascinating
We should respect these deadly animals who give chills to the bravest beast.
If it wasn't for these venomous snakes so many animals like humans would have easily imfested forests and lived there with no fear, while humans have found ways to still destroy forests, it is only when they organize it by doing mass clearing of forests, but a general surge of people won't happen because of these deadly animals, in a sense they are protecting the ecosystem by deterring humans and other outsiders.
That's why in India we respect them a lot and consider it divine.
this is higly interesting looking at how some mediactions we use today (ace-inhibitors like ramipril for lowering blood-pressure for example) are based on snake venom. it makes me wonder how our reaction to those molecules has been changed and shaped in the past - without the arms-race, would there even be a save dose, a positive effect to be gained? how do other species of animals react to that kind of medicine - much stronger, not at all, completely different?
it's so fun, how one comes along connections in knowledge in all kinds of topics, and it fills in the model of the world in the mind. i love it.