Only in higher-stakes encounters with predators it appears to release its more opaque, toxic venom. But future studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis, he says. It also remains unclear what ...

Venom and poison can both be deadly, but they're two distinct natural weapons. The terms 'venom' and 'poison' are often used to mean the same thing: a toxic chemical produced naturally by an animal.

Feared for their notoriously toxic and fast-acting venom, funnel-web spiders are capable of killing a human in 15 minutes. While there are 13 recorded deaths from their bites, no one is thought to ...