Editing Venom (section)

====Mammals====
{{Main|Venomous mammal}}

''[[Euchambersia]]'', an extinct genus of [[therocephalia]]ns, is hypothesized to have had venom glands attached to its canine teeth.<ref name="2017ct">{{cite journal |last1=Benoit |first1=J. |last2=Norton |first2=L. A. |last3=Manger |first3=P. R. |last4=Rubidge |first4=B. S. |title=Reappraisal of the envenoming capacity of ''Euchambersia mirabilis'' (Therapsida, Therocephalia) using μCT-scanning techniques |date=2017 |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=12 |issue=2 |page=e0172047 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0172047 |pmid=28187210 |pmc=5302418 |bibcode=2017PLoSO..1272047B |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A few species of living mammals are venomous, including [[solenodon]]s, [[shrews]], the [[European mole]], [[vampire bat]]s, male [[platypus]]es, and [[slow loris]]es.<ref name="SmithWheeler2006"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nekaris |first1=K. Anne-Isola |last2=Moore |first2=Richard S. |last3=Rode |first3=E. Johanna |last4=Fry |first4=Bryan G. |date=2013-09-27 |title=Mad, bad and dangerous to know: the biochemistry, ecology and evolution of slow loris venom |journal=Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins Including Tropical Diseases |volume=19 |issue=1 |page=21 |doi=10.1186/1678-9199-19-21|pmid=24074353 |pmc=3852360 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Shrews have venomous saliva and most likely evolved their trait similarly to snakes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ligabue-Braun |first1=R. |author2=Verli, H. |author3=Carlini, C. R. |year=2012 |title=Venomous mammals: a review |journal=Toxicon |volume=59 |issue=7–8 |pages=680–695 |doi=10.1016/j.toxicon.2012.02.012|pmid=22410495 |bibcode=2012Txcn...59..680L }}</ref> The presence of tarsal spurs akin to those of the platypus in many non-[[theria]]n [[Mammaliaformes]] groups suggests that venom was an ancestral characteristic among mammals.<ref>Jørn H. Hurum, Zhe-Xi Luo, and Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, Were mammals originally venomous?, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 51 (1), 2006: 1-11</ref>

Extensive research on platypuses shows that their toxin was initially formed from gene duplication, but data provides evidence that the further evolution of platypus venom does not rely as much on gene duplication as was once thought.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wong |first1=E. S. |last2=Belov |first2=K. |year=2012 |title=Venom evolution through gene duplications |journal=Gene |volume=496 |issue=1 |pages=1–7 |doi= 10.1016/j.gene.2012.01.009 |pmid=22285376 }}</ref> Modified sweat glands are what evolved into platypus venom glands. Although it is proven that reptile and platypus venom have independently evolved, it is thought that there are certain protein structures that are favored to evolve into toxic molecules. This provides more evidence of why venom has become a homoplastic trait and why very different animals have convergently evolved.<ref name="whittington" />