Monitors: Deserving of respect (xrays included)

[DragonsEye]

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

Venom is saliva. Venom glands are salivary glands, modified to produce saliva with a specific function. Truthfully it is a very blurred line. It could be argued that all saliva is venom.

I know this is somewhat straying off topic as your focus is discussion of venom in reptiles. However, as a general "definition" this could lead to misconceptions if applied across the board. So at the risk of being pedantic:

Venom is any poisonous fluid secreted by an animal which is injected/introduced into the body of another organism via biting or stinging. The venoms of many invertebrates, fish, and the platypus are nonsalivary based. While Pirarucu is spot on that the venom glands of snakes and lizards are modified salivary glands (and hence the arguement made that venom is saliva) I would have to disagree with the possible generalization that all saliva is venom.

[Pirarucu]

Originally Posted by DragonsEye

I know this is somewhat straying off topic as your focus is discussion of venom in reptiles. However, as a general "definition" this could lead to misconceptions if applied across the board. So at the risk of being pedantic:

Venom is any poisonous fluid secreted by an animal which is injected/introduced into the body of another organism via biting or stinging. The venoms of many invertebrates, fish, and the platypus are nonsalivary based. While Pirarucu is spot on that the venom glands of snakes and lizards are modified salivary glands (and hence the arguement made that venom is saliva) I would have to disagree with the possible generalization that all saliva is venom.

I agree, I would not go so far as to say that all saliva is venom, just that the argument has been made before.