Primates vs cobras: how our last common ancestor built venom resistance

7 Dec 2021
Bryan Fry and a cobra
Associate Professor Bryan Fry

The last common ancestor of chimps, gorillas and humans developed an increased resistance toward cobra venom, according to University of Queensland-led research.

Scientists used animal-free testing techniques to show that African and Asian primates evolved resistance toward the venoms of large, daytime-active cobras and discovered that our last common ancestor with chimps and gorillas evolved even stronger resistance.

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