Ronald A Jenner, Nicholas R Casewell, Eivind A B Undheim
{"title":"What is animal venom? Rethinking a manipulative weapon.","authors":"Ronald A Jenner, Nicholas R Casewell, Eivind A B Undheim","doi":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.05.009","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The scientific study of animal venoms covers a broad phylogenetic domain. We argue that the true extent of this domain has been obscured by researchers having overlooked the biological essence of venom. Venoms manipulate the physiological functioning of recipients to produce extended phenotypes that are beneficial to the venom producer and detrimental to its victim. The ability to produce extended phenotypes in living victims, such as prey paralysis, distinguishes venom from saliva. Understanding venom from this perspective substantially broadens the phylogenetic domain of venom to include taxa that use toxic secretions to feed on plants and manipulate sexual partners, and it paves the way for unifying the field of venomics with the fields that study invertebrate-plant interactions and sexual conflict.</p>","PeriodicalId":23274,"journal":{"name":"Trends in ecology & evolution","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Trends in ecology & evolution","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2025.05.009","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The scientific study of animal venoms covers a broad phylogenetic domain. We argue that the true extent of this domain has been obscured by researchers having overlooked the biological essence of venom. Venoms manipulate the physiological functioning of recipients to produce extended phenotypes that are beneficial to the venom producer and detrimental to its victim. The ability to produce extended phenotypes in living victims, such as prey paralysis, distinguishes venom from saliva. Understanding venom from this perspective substantially broadens the phylogenetic domain of venom to include taxa that use toxic secretions to feed on plants and manipulate sexual partners, and it paves the way for unifying the field of venomics with the fields that study invertebrate-plant interactions and sexual conflict.
期刊介绍：
Trends in Ecology & Evolution (TREE) is a comprehensive journal featuring polished, concise, and readable reviews, opinions, and letters in all areas of ecology and evolutionary science. Catering to researchers, lecturers, teachers, field workers, and students, it serves as a valuable source of information. The journal keeps scientists informed about new developments and ideas across the spectrum of ecology and evolutionary biology, spanning from pure to applied and molecular to global perspectives. In the face of global environmental change, Trends in Ecology & Evolution plays a crucial role in covering all significant issues concerning organisms and their environments, making it a major forum for life scientists.
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