Scientists hope to soon be able to spin spider silk without the aid of
spiders—achieving an age-old human quest to harness one of nature’s
most remarkable materials.

Randy Lewis is a professor of molecular biology at the University of
Wyoming in Laramie. His team of researchers has successfully sequenced
genes related to spider-silk production—uncovering the formula that
spiders use to make silk from proteins. In the process the team
acquired a better understanding of how the silk’s structure is related
to its amazing strength and elastic properties.

Their next task will be using what they’ve learned to spin spider silk themselves.

"Hopefully in the next month we’ll start spinning fibers," Lewis told National Geographic News.

Scientists don’t completely understand how spiders spin liquid
protein into solid fibers. With their spinnerets, spiders somehow apply
physical force to rearrange the proteins’ molecular structure to turn
the proteins into silk.

Understanding how spiders do this could someday result in new stronger
and lighter materials that could replace plastics—and ease the cost to
the environment that results from conventional plastic production. But
duplicating spider silk in the lab has proven difficult.

Cracking the Code

By cracking the genetic code of spider silk, scientists hope not
only to be able to duplicate the material but perhaps even to improve
on it.

"We’re trying to alter both the strength and elasticity of the
natural silks," Lewis said. "We’ve made a number of different synthetic
genes based on what we found in natural silks—but altered in ways to
make them even stronger and more flexible. We’re really trying to
control elasticity, so you if come to me and ask for a certain tensile
strength and elasticity, I can make a gene that will produce a fiber
that does that for you."

Thomas Scheibel, from the department of chemistry at the Technical
University of Munich, Germany, is engaged in similar types of "protein
engineering." He recently published a review of his work in the journal
Microbial Cell Factories.

"We’re now not only after the uniqueness of the silk thread but the
uniqueness of the single molecular building blocks within that thread,"
he said.

"I would start with something in the area of paper—paper that’s strong,
tough, can’t be torn. For uses like banknotes silk could be a perfect
material," Scheibel said.

"In the aircraft or automobile industry, think about a material that
can absorb a lot of energy. If you have an accident [that causes a
dent], it might be gone hours later, because the material can take up
energy and reacquire its form. That’s what happens to a web when an
insect flies into the web."

Myriad of Potential Uses

Over hundreds of millions of years the 37,000 known species of
spiders (and others unknown) have evolved and diversified many silks
for their unique purposes. Best known and studied is silk secreted by a
spider’s major ampullate glands.

Orb-weaving spiders use this kind of silk like Spider-Man, as a
dragline on which to make ascents and descents. The silk is also used
to create spiders’ familiar "wagon wheel" webs.

Spider silk has incredible tensile strength and is often touted as
being several times stronger than steel of the same thickness. What’s
even more unique, however, is spider silk’s elasticity.

"When we say spider silk is tougher than things like Kevlar [a
plastic used to make body armor] that’s what were talking about. Kevlar
has higher tensile strength but it’s not very stretchy," said Todd
Blackledge, an entomologist at the University of Akron.

These properties suggest a potential for many applications for
spider silk: extremely thin sutures for eye or nerve surgery, plasters
and other wound covers, artificial ligaments and tendons, textiles for
parachutes, protective clothing and body armor, ropes, fishing nets,
and so on.

"One that’s initially surprising is air bags," Lewis added. "Right now
an air bag just sort of blasts you back into a seat. But if it were
made out of this material it would actually be made to absorb energy
and really reduce impact."

"Spidergoats"

Unlike silkworms, spiders tend to eat one another and cannot be
effectively farmed. That’s spawned a search for alternative silk
sources. The most common method is introducing silk-spider genes into
other organisms so that they can produce silk proteins that might later
be used to create artificial silk threads. Host organisms range from
simple bacteria to goats.

Quebec-based Nexia Biotechnologies created a stir in 2000 when it bred
two "spidergoats" named Webster and Pete. The goats were altered with
spider genes so that they could produce silk proteins in their milk.
Nexia’s artificial silk product is known as BioSteel, but the company
is currently involved in a restructuring that has stalled research
efforts.

Bacteria produce enough proteins for research work, but their long-term
commercial production potential is unproven. Other efforts have focused
on silk-producing plants such as tobacco or alfalfa and have met with
some success.

But while producing spider-silk proteins is becoming more feasible, and
scientists continually learn more about how to spin them into solid
materials, major hurdles must be cleared before "spider products"
become available.

So far, artificial fibers have lacked real spider silk’s strength, and
the artificial threads have been much wider than their natural
counterparts. Before the advent of a spider-silk marketplace, human web
weavers must close the technology gap on their arachnid counterparts.

Entomologist Steven Kutcher is the spider man behind Spider-man.

"He’s the guy to call in Hollywood when you need insects—he is the
ultimate insect trainer," says Robin Miller, property master for the
movie Spider-man.

"I know how to get a cockroach to run across the floor and flip onto
its back. I can get cockroaches, beetles and spiders to crawl to a
quarter four feet away on cue. I can make bees swarm indoors and I can
repair butterfly wings," says Kutcher. He has even made a live wasp fly
into an actor’s mouth.

"I study insect behavior, and learn what they do and then adapt the behavior to what the director wants," says Kutcher.

Passion for Bugs

Kutcher’s love of insects began as a toddler when he
collected fireflies in New York. But he was also influenced by very
"positive early childhood experiences in nature" when his family would
spend summers in the Catskills. "Something about seeing fish, catching
butterflies, lit a fire within me," says Kutcher.

Kutcher followed his passion for bugs and studied entomology in
college, receiving his BS from the University of California, Davis, and
later an MA in biology—with an emphasis on entomology, insect behavior
and ecology from the California State University in Long Beach. He had
planned to pursue a Ph.D., but when he wasn’t accepted at the graduate
school of his choice he decided to reevaluate his career options.

One day he received a call from his former academic advisor asking him to baby-sit 3,000 locusts that were to be used for the movie Exorcist 2.
Kutcher had to place the locusts wherever they were needed including on
the stars Richard Burton and Linda Blair. That was his first job and it
has been Hollywood creepy crawlies ever since.

After doing a long survey of movies Kutcher found that about one third
of all movies had an insect in it. "I saw immediate job potential,"
Kutcher says.

Almost 25 years after his first job Kutcher now holds an
impressive list of movie, television, music video and commercial
credits that include his biggest movie, Arachnophobia, the comedy-thriller in which a California town is overrun with deadly spiders. He also supervised the bug and spider stunts in Alien, Contact, Jurassic Park, Pacific Heights, and Wild Wild West.

"He is a very observant and engaging guy," says Lucinda Strub, a special effects person who worked with Kutcher on Arachnophobia. "One of his main goals is to educate the public about how fascinating and interesting insects are. He is really out to teach people about bugs," says Strub who then rattled off how to sex a spider and clarified that "of course spiders are not bugs, they are arachnids."

Even with his busy filmmaking schedule, Kutcher still finds time to
teach once a week at a local community college. He also started the annual Insect Fair at the Los Angeles Arboretum.

Kutcher’s most recent challenge has been finding the perfect spider for the movie Spider-man, which opens on May 3rd.

The concept designer for the movie produced a computer rendition that
combined traits of up to four arachnids to create an image of the
mutant spider that bites Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-man) and endows
him spider powers.

"I was given this drawing of a spider that didn’t exist and told to
find a real spider that matched it," says Miller, whose
responsibilities include assembling all the props in the entire film.
The spider resembled a black widow, which wasn’t an option because its
bite is too dangerous.

Miller contacted Steven Kutcher and showed him the picture. Kutcher then arranged a "spider Olympics" for Spider-man
director, Sam Raimi. Kutcher brought in different types of spiders to
showcase the talents of each, says Miller. "He literally had the
spiders doing tricks."

One spider could jump, another was able to spin webs very
quickly and yet another was able to produce a drag line and essentially
swing out of the way—all activites that Spider-man can do.

The spider that Raimi selected was Steatoda grossa,
a brown spider with a smooth, swollen body and thin twiggy legs. The
problem was that the color was wrong, "we needed a spider that had
metallic blue and a radioactive red-orange color to it," says Miller.

The answer was spider make-up. Originally Kutcher wanted to make
an entire costume for the spider but the timing came down to the wire
and he finally settled on body paint. "I had to find a non-toxic paint,
design a little harness to hold the spider as he was painted, and
supervise the artist painting Steatoda."

"I need the spider to go from A to B to C and Steve can train it to do
that," says Miller who has worked with Kutcher on several movies. "He
is very creative, he can figure out how to get the creature to do what
he wants while being very delicate," says Strub.

Why, in this age of computer-generated special effects did the
director simply not animate the spider? "The real thing always looks
best, especially when it fills the whole movie screen," says Miller.
And computer-generated graphics are very expensive although the scene
where the mutant spider bites Peter Parker is computer generated.

"People find me and I’m off on these adventures," says Kutcher,
"problem solving, and exploring, and teaching, and educating people
about insects." But Steven Kutcher’s hat best describes his life, his
love and his philosophy: "Bugs are my business."

Spider monkeys (of several species) live in the tropical rain forests
of Central and South America and occur as far north as Mexico. They
have long, lanky arms and prehensile (gripping) tails that enable them
to move gracefully from branch to branch and tree to tree. These nimble
monkeys spend most of their time aloft, and maintain a powerful grip on
branches even though they have no thumbs.

These New World primates are social and gather in groups of up to two-
or three-dozen animals. At night, these groups split up into smaller
sleeping parties of a half dozen or fewer. Foraging also occurs in
smaller groups, and is usually most intense early in the day. Spider
monkeys find food in the treetops and feast on nuts, fruits, leaves,
bird eggs, and spiders. They can be noisy animals and often communicate
with many calls, screeches, barks, and other sounds.

Typically, females give birth to only a single baby every two to five
years. Young monkeys depend completely on their mothers for about ten
weeks, but after that time they begin to explore on their own and play
amongst themselves. Mothers continue to care for their young for the
first year of their lives, and often move about with their offspring
clinging to their backs.

Indigenous peoples often hunt spider monkeys for food, and the animals
are usually agitated by human contact. Logging and deforestation
continue to shrink the space that spider monkeys are able to call home.

Oct. 4, 2006 — As if the West Nile-toting mosquito isn’t
enough to worry Mississippians, add the poisonous Latrodectus
geometricus to the state’s list of creepy-crawly creatures.

Dr. Jerome Goddard, entomologist with the Mississippi Department of
Health, said the poisonous Brown Widow spider that is a cousin to the
well-known Black Widow, is now calling the Mississippi Gulf Coast home.

"The tropical Brown Widow spider …. has recently been captured in
many locations along the Mississippi Gulf Coast," Goddard said in a
news release Tuesday.

He said his office has been
receiving many phone calls reporting buildings and grounds heavily
infested with this type of spider.

"This spider is in the same family as the Black Widow, and is
poisonous to humans," Goddard said. "I first heard of a collection of
this spider at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi in early 2005 and
figured it was probably just an isolated incident."

The Health Department said the Brown Widow can grow to 1 1/2 inches
long. It is brown or grayish-brown instead of black and has an
orange-to-yellow hourglass design on its underside, as opposed to the
familiar red hourglass design on the Black Widow.

"That’s a dead giveaway," Goddard said. "When the hourglass design
is yellowish or orange, instead of deep red, you know it is a Brown
Widow."

He said there is a positive note — the Brown Widow is not as
aggressive as the Black Widow. And although some scientific reports
claim the Brown Widow is twice as poisonous, Goddard said that was
doubtful.

"One very good medical review of 45 cases of Black Widow and Brown
Widow bites showed that the symptoms of Brown Widow bites were mild and
tended to be restricted to the bite site and surrounding tissues (not
the case with black widows)," Dr. Goddard said. "Brown Widows will not
attack if they are not bothered or made to feel threatened."

Most spiders in Mississippi are unable to puncture human skin, and
if they do, their venom is not generally harmful to humans. There are
three main spider species in Mississippi that health officials worry
about — the Black Widow, Brown Recluse and now the Brown Widow.

Goddard said he was unaware of the new species existing anywhere else in Mississippi.

"I’ve gone down to the Gulf Coast several times and looked for myself," he said. "They are, indeed, in many places."

He said the spider probably made its way to Mississippi from Florida
through commercial imports of plants, food, building materials, or
furniture.

Jessica Drew is the daughter of Jonathan Drew, research partner to Dr. Herbert Edgar Wyndham.
When young Jessica suffered uranium poisoning in 1931, Dr. Drew was
forced to inject her with his untested spider serum and seal her in a
genetic accelerator. In stasis for decades, her aging greatly slowed,
she awoke with no memories of her own past. Briefly cared for by the
Evolutionary’s cow-woman assistant Bova, Jessica sought human company
in a nearby village where she accidentally killed her first lover with
her new bioelectric powers. Fleeing a vengeful mob, she was rescued by
Count Otto Vermis, who molded her into the terrorist organization
Hydra’s newest assassin. As Arachne, she fought S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury, who revealed Vermis as a cold-blooded killer.

Jessica returned to England where Modred the Mystic
helped her shake off Hydra’s brainwashing. She also allied with the
sorcerer Magus, and earned the enmity of the powerful time-spanning
sorceress Morgan Le Fay.
Jessica eventually moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a bounty
hunter alongside Scotty McDowell before Nick Fury helped her secure
private investigator credentials. She lost her immunity power saving
Giant-Man (Bill Foster) from radiation poisoning, and a battle with Morgan stranded Jessica on the astral plane until she was rescued by the Shroud, the Avengers and Doctor Strange. Later, Jessica and her friend, B-grade actress Lindsay McCabe, moved to Madripoor, where they often teamed with Wolverine.

Jessica was drawn to New York when her powers were stolen by Doctor Octopus‘ Spider-Woman (Charlotte Witter). Following Charlotte’s defeat at the hands of Mattie Franklin
(herself a self-styled Spider-Woman), Jessica once more regained her
uncanny abilities accepting an offer from Hydra while working as a
double agent for Nick Fury. After seventeen months of procedures, she
emerged more powerful than ever, now capable of fully flying (rather
than just gliding on air currents). After serving with Captain America,
Iron Man, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Luke Cage as the Avengers formed
in the aftermath of M-Day, Jessica left the team after the Superhuman
Registration Act divided the heroes. She ultimately decided to ally
herself with Captain America’s anti-registration team, and is currently
part of the unsanctioned Avengers.

Orphaned as a baby when his parents were killed overseas in a plane
crash as U.S. government spies, only child Peter Parker was raised by
his elderly Uncle Ben and Aunt May.
Academically gifted, Peter displayed an uncanny affinity for science
that was nothing short of genius. Socially, however, he was painfully
shy and the target of much cruelty by his peers at Midtown High School.
Attending a public science exhibit when Peter was 15-years old, he was
bitten on the hand by a radioactive spider accidentally irradiated by a
particle beam, empowering Peter with the arachnid’s proportional
strength and agility, and the ability to cling to almost any surface.
Most incredibly, he had gained a sixth sense that provided him with
early warning of impending danger. Disguised, Peter tested his
new-found abilities defeating professional wrestler Crusher Hogan
in the ring, and earning some cash. Using his scientific prowess, he
constructed a pair of artificial web-shooters that attached to his
wrists. With an agent, a costume, and a new name, Spider-Man became an
overnight sensation on television. Unconcerned with the rest of the
world, he vowed to use his powers only to take care of himself and his
aunt and uncle. After his first TV special ended, he allowed a burglar
that he could have easily restrained to run past him and escape. A few
days later, Peter returned home to find his beloved Uncle Ben had been
shot and killed. When Spider-Man confronted the killer hiding in the
old Acme Warehouse at the waterfront, he discovered to his horror that
his uncle’s murderer was the burglar he apathetically allowed to pass.
Consumed with guilt, he became aware at last that with great power
comes great responsibility, just as his beloved uncle had once said.

To help his Aunt May with finances, Peter took a freelance job at
the Daily Bugle selling pictures of himself as Spider-Man to publisher J. Jonah Jameson.
Despite Spider-Man rescuing his son, astronaut John Jameson, from a
malfunctioning space capsule, Jonah used his newspaper to publicly
condemn Spider-Man as a menace. Unlike heroes like the Fantastic Four or the Avengers,
Spider-Man was mistrusted and feared by the public. At school, his
popularity was no greater, as "Puny Parker" frequently clashed with
bully Flash Thompson and his followers. Flash’s girlfriend, Liz Allan, often complicated matters, harboring a crush on "Petey" and making Flash jealous.

A Gathering of Enemies

Spider-Man soon found himself facing a rogue’s gallery of powerful thieves, gangsters, and megalomaniacs including the Chameleon, the Tinkerer, the Vulture (Adrian Toomes), Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius), the Sandman, Doctor Doom, and Electro. In Florida, he befriended Dr. Curtis Connors after administering an antidote to reverse his transformation into the terrible Lizard. Though he had many enemies, he also shared adventures with the Fantastic Four (including rival the Human Torch), the Avengers, the X-Men and Daredevil. At the Daily Bugle, he discovered a friend and his first love, Jameson’s secretary, Betty Brant. Even more villains clashed with Spider-Man including the Green Goblin, the Big Man and the Enforcers, Mysterio (Quentin Beck), and Kraven the Hunter.
Dating Betty became awkward after her brother, Bennett, was murdered in
a clash between Doctor Octopus and Spider-Man. Betty at first held
Spider-Man responsible. Though she later recanted, the thought of
Spider-Man reminded her of losing her brother. At home, Aunt May
suffered a heart attack, causing Spider-Man to abandon a fight with the
Green Goblin. For a while after, the public viewed Spider-Man as a
coward, before he made a comeback. May’s fragile health and poor
finances, however, remain a lingering concern. Frustrated by their
defeats at the hand of Spider-Man, six of his top villains gathered
forces under Doctor Octopus to form the Sinister Six. Through wits and determination, Spider-Man defeated the group one at a time.

Peter Parker’s confidence gradually increased. At the same time,
his relationship with Betty crumbled as handsome reporter Ned Leeds
stole her heart. Jameson took his campaign against Spider-Man to a new
level, sponsoring the creation of the deranged Scorpion,
under Dr. Farley Stillwell. Though the Scorpion turned on Jameson, the
publisher persisted with attacks against Spider-Man, and rented the
first of a series of robotic Spider Slayers invented by Dr. Spencer
Smythe. Spider-Man was able to use his technical know-how to defeat the
Slayer. While Aunt May persisted with attempts to introduce Peter to Mary Jane Watson,
the niece of neighbor Anna Watson, Spider-Man tackled organized crime
led by the Crime Master and the Green Goblin. Tired of the Bugle’s
harassment, Peter tried selling pictures for the Daily Globe but gave
up when the Globe’s editor proved too nosy.

Big Super-Hero on Campus

After
capturing a new foe, the Molten Man, Peter Parker graduated high school
and earned a science scholarship to Empire State University (ESU) for
achieving the highest scholastic average in Midtown High’s history.
College brought a fresh start with new peers including the wealthy Harry Osborn,
son of industrialist Norman Osborn, and beauty queen of Standard High,
Gwen Stacy; Flash Thompson followed Peter to ESU on an athletic
scholarship. Consumed with worry about his aunt’s hospitalization,
Peter was misunderstood as an unfriendly snob by Harry and Gwen.
Because a previous transfusion of his radioactive blood to Aunt May was
slowly killing her, Spider-Man enlisted aid from Dr. Connors.
The antidote that had been called in to cure Aunt May was stolen, and
Spider-Man fought like a madman to retain it. Before Spider-Man could
deliver the antidote, ISO-36, he was trapped under rubble in a battle
with the "Master Planner” (revealed to be Doctor Octopus). Spider-Man
courageously forced his way out to administer the elixir to Aunt May.

While Aunt May convalesced, Peter relaxed and befriended Harry and
Gwen. Soon after, the Green Goblin negated Spider-Man’s spider-sense,
and kidnapped him. There, the Goblin revealed himself to be Harry’s
father, Norman. The two battled, but Spider-Man triumphed knocking the
Goblin into live wires and chemicals. Norman was left with partial
amnesia, blocking his memories of being Goblin and of Spider-Man’s
identity.

The Avengers invited Spider-Man to join their ranks, but after
facing the Hulk, he declined the offer, preferring the freedom of
working alone. Meanwhile, Peter could no longer evade meeting Mary
Jane. Assuming the worst, Peter was stunned to discover she was both
gorgeous and vivacious. Their first date involved riding into the city
on Pete’s new motorcycle take pictures of the Rhino. After another
battle with the Lizard and new foe, the Shocker, Peter moved into
Harry’s apartment, rent free. Despite his new found independence,
happiness eluded him. Worn out by Jameson’s editorials, the public’s
fear of him, Aunt May’s fragile health, slipping grades, and
floundering love life, Peter decided to become Spider-Man no more.
While Peter enjoyed time studying, and being with friends and family,
crime escalated as the Kingpin’s initiated his master plan to oversee
the criminal underworld. After Peter rescued a watchman resembling
Uncle Ben from two robbers, he renewed his vow to never let an innocent
come to harm because he failed to act. Subsequently, Spider-Man battled
the Kingpin, Doctor Octopus (who became Aunt May’s boarder), a new Vulture, a new Spider Slayer, and Mysterio.  He and the Human Torch went to Hollywood where they tackled Mysterio and the Wizard.

The Girl, the Goblin, and the Great Heartbreak

Though Peter dated MJ on occasion, he soon fell for the more
serious-minded Gwen, causing tension between Harry and himself. Peter
met Gwen’s father, retired police Captain George Stacy,
who studied Spider-Man, and questioned Peter about his first-hand
experience. The Kingpin brainwashed Capt. Stacy (using Norman Osborn’s
equipment) into stealing police records. After Peter published pictures
exposing Stacy, the Kingpin kidnapped George and Gwen. Spider-Man and
Osborn rescued the two, but the Kingpin escaped. The Kingpin next
focused on stealing a legendary stone tablet but Spider-Man retrieved
it, and left it with Capt. Stacy. The Shocker stole it back, and Dr.
Connors was forced by Man Mountain Marko to translate it for an aged
gangster, Silvermane.
Connors revealed a formula for a youth potion. Silvermane drank the
liquid, and became a young man again. Tragically, he could not stop the
de-aging process, and shrank so small, he ultimately disappeared.
Meanwhile, the stress on Dr. Connors triggered a transformation again.
After a fierce melee across the city, with unwelcome help from the
Human Torch, Spider-Man rescued Connors.

Though
Peter’s frequent unexplained disappearances as Spider-Man have caused
friction with Gwen, their love for each other gave Peter hope for a
happy future together. As the bond between Peter and Gwen grew ever
stronger, it was approvingly observed by Gwen’s father, Police Captain
George Stacy, who also supported the efforts of Spider-Man. But tragedy
struck when Captain Stacy was crushed by a falling chimney, saving an
innocent child during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus.
With his dying breath, Captain Stacy told Spider-Man, "take care of
Gwen, Peter". Spider-Man had lost a great ally.

Gwen blamed Spider-Man for her father’s death. Peter’s conscience,
already tormented by the ever present need to lie to Gwen, became even
more troubled. Yet their love prevailed through life’s challenges -
including Harry’s drug addiction, and Spider-Man’s aborted attempt to
remove his own powers, that instead resulted in him being transformed
into a six armed freak. In the end, it was death which separated the
two lovers. The Green Goblin kidnapped Gwen, and dropped her off the
Brooklyn Bridge. Spider-Man tried, but failed to save her. In the
vicious battle which followed, Norman was accidentally impaled by his
own Goblin Glider. His apparent death was secretly observed by his son,
Harry, who swore his own revenge on Spider-Man. Harry soon succumbed to
the Osborn Legacy, kidnapping those whom Peter loved most, only barely
being stopped from finishing the work that Norman Osborn had started.

A Clone is Born

Meanwhile Peter and Gwen’s college Professor, Miles Warren, had begun his own deadly schemes as the Jackal.
Miles blamed Spider-Man for the death of Gwen, whom he had himself
fallen in love with. The climax of the Jackal’s plan was his creation
of a Spider-Man clone,
but at the conclusion of the final battle, both the Jackal and the
clone were killed. With their departure, Peter’s life returned to
normality, as much as it ever could for a college student who was
secretly a costumed super-hero.

In the meantime, Peter and Mary Jane realized that their
relationship had become far more than just friendship. So much so that,
shortly before his college graduation, Peter proposed to Mary Jane. But
she had seen too much pain in her own family, and she turned him down.
She left New York to pursue her modeling career in Florida, and Peter
Parker moved on to post-graduate studies. It was a time for new
challenges, and new friends. But one thing would never change; the
ever-present responsibility he faced as Spider-Man.

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

Entering his post-graduate studies, Peter’s close college friends
began to find their own lives. Liz Allan was dating (later to marry) a
recovering Harry Osborn. Flash Thompson was looking for a life after
football and the army, with his girlfriend Sha Shan. Betty Brant had
married Bugle reporter Ned Leeds. Even Peter’s Aunt May had found romance with Nathan Lubensky,
fellow occupant of the convalescent home she had moved into. With his
friends all in cozy couples, Mary Jane’s departure was all the more
unsettling. But it was not long before Peter began dating again. He
enjoyed several dates with Cissy Ironwood. Also, departmental secretary
Deborah Whitman was attracted to Peter, but failed to win his heart.
Dawn Starr, undergraduate student, pretended to date Peter though
actually wanting to sneak a look at an upcoming exam. Amy Powell tried
to use Peter to make her fiancé Lance Bannon jealous.

A Partner in Crimefighting

These women had one thing in common - Peter Parker. But when Felicia Hardy,
crossed Spider-Man’s path, things were different. Felicia was
beautiful, talented, and determined. She was also an unrepentant
burglar who had a romantic fascination with her web-slinging hero.
Spider-Man persuaded Felicia to turn away from crime, and the two of
them became lovers - and crime-fighting partners. Felicia urged Peter
to spend more and more time in costume. The glamorous Black Cat could
never bear to see her super-hero living the squalid life of post-grad
student. Becoming Spider-Man was made easier since Aunt May had
recovered enough to return home and open the Parker residence as a
boarding home for retired people, aided by Nathan. Aided by the Black
Cat, Spider-Man faced Doc Ock and the Owl
- a battle which nearly cost Felicia her life. Peter was brought
crashing down to earth. He realized that without super-powers, Felicia
was just like the others from his past, who had so often paid the price
for Peter being Spider-Man.

The Redhead Returns

When Mary Jane returned from Florida she found Peter and the Black
Cat in a shaky and tempestuous relationship. Felicia could not bear the
thought of Peter not allowing her to accompany him into battle, and she
embarked on a secret search for super-powers at any price. Tricked by
the Kingpin, and twisted in her own deceit, the Black Cat and
Spider-Man finally parted ways. In contrast, Mary Jane was determined
not to let lies come between her and Peter Parker. She finally told
Peter that she had known for some time about his secret identity. With
Spider-Man’s secret finally out in the open, Peter and Mary Jane’s
relationship found new depth.

Peter Makes a New Friend from Outer Space

Certainly there always was plenty of action for Spider-Man in New York, especially with the appearance of the deadly Hobgoblin, and Peter’s troubles with his symbiotic black costume he obtained after being whisked away to the Secret Wars, a battle on a far away world between the Earth’s greatest heroes and villains orchestrated by the enigmatic Beyonder. His costume shredded, Spider-Man thought he obtained a new black and white costume (similar in design to the new Spider-Woman)
from a costume making machine. After returning home to Earth, Peter
discovered his costume was actually a living entity, feeding off his
adrenalin as it possessed his body while he slept. Thanks to Mister Fantastic,
the costume was removed by sonic blasts, and captured. It escaped,
still emotionally dependant on Spider-Man and reattached itself.
Spider-Man forced it off by the loud noise atop the bell-tower of a
church (where the alien costume would later attach itself to Eddie
Brock forming Venom).

Wedding Bells for the Webhead

As Spider-Man, Peter faced the death of his good friend Police Captain Jean DeWolff at the hands of the Sin-Eater.
He watched Flash Thompson be taken for a criminal, and Ned Leeds
killed, both for their involvement with the Hobgoblin. But things were
different now - he had Mary Jane by his side. Peter proposed for a
second time, and was accepted. As newlyweds, Peter and Mary Jane shared
happiness, but faced many perils also. Mary Jane was menaced by both
Kraven the Hunter, and by Venom, both of whom knew Peter’s identity.
Mary Jane loved Peter, and had deep respect for his sense of
responsibility. But she was unprepared for the loneliness, the fear for
his life, and the nagging doubt that perhaps Peter needed Spider-Man
far more than he needed her. During this time, Spider-Man gained the
cosmic powers of Captain Universe
making him virtually indestructible, able to fly, shoot cosmic energy
blasts, and possess unimaginable strength. This temporary augmentation
allowed Spider-Man to defend himself against a new assortment of foes
(including Graviton, Magneto, Titania, and Dragon Man),
as villains attempted to aid each other by targeting each others’
enemies. At the opposite extreme, Spider-Man temporarily lost all of
his powers under the trickery of the Chameleon, but was aided by the Black Cat in restoring his abilities. Spider-Man, along with the Hulk, Ghost Rider, and Wolverine
briefly formed an unofficial ad-hoc Fantastic Four team, while the real
Fantastic Four were captured by Skrulls. The group quickly disbanded.

Amongst the daily battles with New York’s villains, and the
challenges of keeping his marriage alive, Peter soon faced the
inexplicable return of his parents, Mary and Richard Parker.
Long since believed dead, they claimed to have lost their memory of the
intervening years. Aunt May was not ready to accept them, but Peter
finally believed them to be what they claimed to be, even showing them
his identity as Spider-Man. But Peter’s heart had over-ridden his
instincts. The pair were eventually revealed as robot agents of the
Chameleon, part of a plan prompted by Harry Osborn, recently returned
as the Green Goblin. Spider-Man was filled with anger at this deeply
personal attack. It seemed to him that those he loved were fated to
die, while the evil in his life would always return to haunt him.

I Am the Spider

A darkness began to fill Spider-Man’s heart, like never before.
Still brooding over the Chameleon’s invasion of his life, and Harry’s
death after a twisted attack on both the Osborn and Parker families,
Peter was then faced with Aunt May’s serious heart attack. May
hospitalized, and not expected to recover. Peter’s frustration at
life’s injustices boiled over into violence. Encountering the recently
reformed and powerless Scorpion, Spider-Man cruelly beat his former foe
close to death - ignoring his victim’s pleas for mercy. Calling himself
"the Spider", it seemed that Peter was even beyond Mary Jane’s powers
to heal him. In the end, his salvation came at the hands of Judas Traveller,
a psychologist with most unusual methods. Peter’s recovery from his
dark madness coincided with the return of a figure from Peter’s distant
past - his clone, created by the Jackal. The clone had survived, and
had wandered the U.S. using the adopted name "Ben Reilly". Learning
that Aunt May was very ill, the clone returned to New York, just in
time to see her pass away. He adopted a costumed identity as the
"Scarlet Spider", and portrayed himself as Peter’s long-lost cousin.
Peter and Ben became friends, even almost brothers. The Jackal himself
had also survived. Deceived at the hands of Norman Osborn, the Jackal
declared that in fact Ben was the original, and Peter the clone. Though
Peter took the revelation badly, Ben subsequently took over the role of
Spider-Man, leaving Peter and pregnant Mary Jane free to enjoy a
"normal" life. Peter returned to his scientific career, though hampered
by having never completed his doctorate. He and MJ also tried moving to
Portland, until they realized that New York was where they truly
belonged. But all too soon, their new world was shattered when Norman
Osborn burst back into their lives. He also had survived his apparent
death, and was the mastermind behind all of the Jackal’s schemes.
Norman killed Ben, revealing him to be the clone after all. But
Norman’s schemes went even deeper and deadlier than ever - he
apparently caused Mary Jane to miscarry the baby and held Peter’s Aunt
May hostage. The woman believed to have been Aunt May that had died was
a genetically modified actress, part of a subtle plot which was never
carried to fruition.

A New Chapter

Reunited at last, Peter, Mary Jane, and Aunt May moved into a
luxurious apartment. With the Green Goblin defeated in battle, driven
more deeply insane by a mystical ceremony, Peter promise Mary Jane that
he would give up being Spider-Man and concentrate on their family. He
took a job at Tri Corp Research while Mary Jane returned to modeling.
But after various emergencies and the appearance of a new Spider-Man
(actually Mattie Franklin), Peter could not seem to keep his word.

While Mary Jane was being increasingly threatened by an
anonymous stalker, Peter was secretly breaking his promise and
returning to web-slinging. Mary Jane, preoccupied with modeling, was
distraught feeling a space grow between her and Peter. After catching
Peter still active as Spider-Man, MJ vanished when a plane she had
boarded exploded. Peter was devastated. Aunt May returned to her home
in Forest Hills, while Peter returned to his bachelor lifestyle moving
in with Randy Robertson. He socialized with Randy, Glory Grant (now a couple), and Gwen’s cousin Jill Stacy
while his attractive neighbor, Caryn intrigued him. But with Peter
still emotionally adrift, Norman picked the perfect time to drug Peter
and incite him to becoming his heir. But even lost and confused as he
was, Peter proved that his could resist Osborn’s brainwashing attempt.
Meanwhile, Mary Jane was not dead, but had been kidnapped by her
stalker. Spider-Man managed to rescue Mary Jane, only to discover that
she needed time away from him. Mary Jane left for the West Coast,
leaving Peter to struggle with a loss almost as traumatic as her
apparent death. While Peter turned to his Aunt May for support, May
discovered Peter’s greatest secret, visiting unannounced, and finding
him asleep in costume after his grueling victory against Morlun.
After coming to terms with the truth, May quickly became Spider-Man’s
strongest supporter, and the two became closer than ever. At May’s
suggestion, Peter returned to Midtown High, now more rundown that Peter
remembered it, to teach science part-time. With renewed hopes, Peter
and Mary Jane agreed to try once to make things work between them.
After their time apart, Peter earnestly assured Mary Jane that he truly
needs her in his life.

A Mystical Connection?

The mysterious Ezekiel,
who shared similar spider-like abilities, made Peter question the
source of his powers, implying a mystical reason the spider chose to
bite him. Ezekiel had stolen his powers through an arcane ceremony and
needed to sacrifice Spider-Man to keep them. When his ritual joined
their minds, however, Ezekiel realized Spider-Man was the worthy hero
and sacrificed himself.

A Past Indiscretion

Back
home, Spider-Man fought the two adult children of his ex-love, Gwen
Stacy. Years before, Gwen had an affair with Norman Osborn,
subsequently became pregnant and rapidly gave birth to twins, Gabriel and Sarah.
After his own apparent ‘death,’ Osborn raised the pair, who were aging
rapidly due to their genetic inheritance of the Goblin formula. Osborn
told them that Peter was their father and had killed their mother but
Spider-Man eventually made them face the truth.

Osborn also revealed Spider-Man’s identity to the Scorpion,
and had him kidnap Aunt May. Osborn had been publicly revealed as the
Green Goblin and jailed after murdering journalist Terri Kidder. He
knew big businesses had been conspiring for decades to create
super-villains and, as a potential whistle-blower, was an easy target
in prison. Osborn wanted Peter to break him out in return for May’s
freedom, but when Peter did, a battle erupted with the Sinister Twelve,
including Gargan himself - now the new Venom after bonding with the
alien symbiote. Spider-Man, with the help of other super-heroes, was
able to defeat the Sinister Twelve and save his Aunt May. Around this
time, Spider-Man met the Queen
who had powers allowing her to control the world’s insects, eventually
causing Spider-Man to mutate into a giant spider. She planned to
detonate a bomb that would kill everyone except those with the "insect"
gene but Peter returned to his human form and stopped her, augmented
with enhanced powers including silk glands within his forearms.

Major League

After a breakout at the Raft Security Prison, Spider-Man joined the Avengers (newly formed in the aftermath of the Scarlet Witch’s attack on her own team). An old classmate of Peter’s named Charlie Weiderman went on an insane rampage after his experiments covered him in Vibranium,
and burned down the Parker’s home in Forest Hills. Peter moved into
Tony Stark’s tower with Aunt May and Mary Jane. For this and various
other reasons, Spider-Man’s secret identity was shared with many of the
world’s heroes including the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, providing
him with an venue to communicate among his peers.

The Other

Morlun returned again, viciously beating Spider-Man, removing an
eye, and hospitalizing him. Mary Jane tried to stop Morlun from
finishing off her husband. But when Morlun threatened to kill her,
Spider-Man gave the last of his energy to protect her. With stingers
that burst from his wrists, Spider-Man slayed Morlun. Spider-Man then
apparently died; however, a new Peter Parker emerged from the old
corpse, now more fully embracing his "other" self - his spider
personae. Retaining his stingers, he discovered other new abilities
including night vision, greater control of his skin adhesive
properties, and enhanced sensory perceptions, such as being able to
sense the vibrations traveling through his webline. Tony Stark
looking at Peter as his protégé, gave Spider-Man a new technologically
advanced costume with a red and gold color scheme as a gift.

Choosing Sides, Unmasking, and Switching Teams

In the aftermath of a tragedy in Stamford, Connecticut, in which a band of televised heroes were unable to prevent the villain Nitro
from killing an entire elementary school full of children and parts of
the surrounding community, the U.S. government propelled forward the
Superhuman Registration Act requiring the superhero community to
register themselves as living weapons of mass destruction, and reveal
their identities to the government. The act was supported by Tony
Stark, who became the leader of the Pro-Registration side. The
superheroic community was split between registering or refusing and
becoming an outlaw. Leading the opposition to the act was Captain America,
in defense of heroes’ right to privacy. To support Iron Man, and
perhaps obtain the ever-elusive respect from the public by compliance
with the Act, Spider-Man made the difficult decision (with support from
May and Mary Jane) to reveal his identity to the world during a press
conference. As Spider-Man now faces the danger of public exposure to
his family and loved ones, and the prospect of having to capture his
renegade friends in what has become an all-out Civil War
in the superpowered community, Peter regretted his decision. After
witnessing a prison in the Negative Zone for super humans who refused
to register, Parker fled Avengers Tower with his family, clashing with
Iron Man during his exit. He aided Captain America and the forces
opposing registration, culminating in a major battle during the
jailbreak of the heroes imprisoned in the Negative Zone, Captain
America’s surrender, and the end of the Civil War. Spider-Man has
remained a member of the unsanctioned Avengers team in the aftermath.
Since Spider-Man’s identity is now public knowledge, the Kingpin
arranged a sniper to slay the Parker family. Though Mary Jane was
spared, Parker was unable to prevent his aunt from getting shot. May
was left in a coma on the verge of death. The anguish of yet another
loved one injured because of his life as Spider-Man embittered the
hero. He resumed wearing his black cloth costume, reflective of the
dark times while his Aunt May was precariously close to death.
Spider-Man confronted the Kingpin in Ryker’s Island prison, and, while
unmasked, beat him within an inch of his life, vowing to come back and
kill him if Aunt May died.

A Brand New Day

With time running out, Peter tried several avenues, from the technological to the mystical, to save May’s life. At a dead-end, Mephisto
appeared to Peter and Mary Jane offering to restore May to health, but
at the price of their holy bond of matrimony. To prevent May from
simply getting shot again, Mephisto agreed to use arcane means to make
the world forget they ever knew Spider-Man’s secret identity. After
spending one more day together, Mary Jane selflessly took the
initiative and agreed to the bargain, knowing Peter would never forgive
himself if he rejected a chance to save May for his own happiness. She
had faith that their love would be strong enough to reunite them. Peter
consented and awoke to a world where his marriage never took place, and
his relationship with Mary Jane broken. Living back with Aunt May,
alive and well, in his old Forest Hills home, Peter attended a party
welcoming home from rehab his old friend Harry Osborn - somehow
returned to life in the aftermath of the deal. Spider-Man has returned
to using web-shooters; his powers and strength have returned to the
state they were before his transformations by the Queen and after
battling Morlun.

           
A spot of red in a tangled maze, a spider of the Theridiidae
family awaits a meal in a classic cobweb structure (also called a
gum-foot web). Silk lines radiating from the woven retreat are partly
sticky, very elastic, and only loosely attached to the palm leaf. When
an insect stumbles across a line, the thread detaches and springs
toward the retreat with insect in tow. The spider attacks with viscid
silk, throwing globs at its prey to stop it in its tracks. A bite seals
the deal.
                          
    
                  
                  

Over a hundred millions years ago, one small spider wove its intricate
silken web—a task spiders are thought to have performed for
hundreds of millions of years. This spider lived during the Cretaceous
period in what is now Lebanon, and shared its world with some of the
largest dinosaurs to have ever existed.

But on this rare occasion one small piece of that delicate web became
trapped in oozing, tar-like, tree resin, which later hardened to form
amber. One hundred thirty million years or so would pass before fossil
hunters dug it up, and now that miraculously fossilized spider’s web is
described for the first time in today’s issue of the science journal Nature.

The fossil, described by Samuel Zschokke, a spider biologist at the
University of Basel in Switzerland, is the oldest direct evidence of
spiderwebs.

"Spiders are amongst the rarest of all fossils," commented
William Shear, an entomologist at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.
"We almost never find web fossils, and this is undoubtedly the oldest,"
he said.

Spiders don’t fossilize well, as they have no hard skeleton and
are not typically found near bodies of water, which readily accumulate
the sediments ideal for preservation.

Polished and Put Aside

Though spider thread preserved in amber has been found before,
previous specimens have dated from much more recent periods—typically
from amber beds some 20 to 30 million years old, deposited long after
the extinction of the dinosaurs. But the newly described fossil
spiderweb dates roughly 90 million years older than the previous oldest
known specimen.

The piece of amber was found in Jezzine, Lebanon, by German
fossil hunter Dieter Schlee in 1969 in amber beds that date to between
127 and 132 million years ago. The amber beds are from the early
Cretaceous period and are the oldest beds known to contain fossilized
insects.

Though Schlee noted that the fossil might contain a piece of web, it
wasn’t his area of expertise, so the fossil was polished and put aside
in a Stuttgart museum, without the recognition it deserved.

That was until Zschokke recently paid a visit to the museum,
and asked staff if he could examine their amber collection. What he
found on inspection with a microscope astounded him.

The tiny thread of silk is just four millimeters (0.15 inch) long and
just three micrometers in diameter (a micrometer is one-thousandth of a
millimeter and approximately one twenty-five-thousandth of an inch).
That’s many times thinner than a human hair.

The thread was only noticed because it is coated in larger glue
droplets, deposited by many species of spider. All spiders known to
weave delicate circular net-like orb webs are spiders of the
superfamily Araneoidea who produce this kind of glue coated "viscid"
silk. The thread shows "a striking resemblance to recent araneoid
spider threads," said Zschokke.

Araneoid spiders are a very successful group numbering 12,000 to 13,000
known species today, said Jonathan Coddington, an expert on spider
systematics at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Though
an entire araneoid spider has also been found in amber from this
period, this new find provides independent evidence for the great age
of that group, said Coddington.
The development of sticky viscid silk is thought to be an
important evolutionary innovation as that silk is more effective at
snagging passing insects than the non-sticky variety. "It allowed
spiders to economize on silk," said Shear. Many spiders have to build a
web from scratch again each day. Producing all that silk uses a lot of
energy.

Weaving Webs in Deep Time

Though scientists have some evidence that spiders have been weaving
webs for hundreds of millions of years, much of it has been
circumstantial.

Shear noted that while the araneoid spider fossil contained so-called
spinneret organs, adaptations also used by modern spiders to produce
silk for webs, it’s not possible to be certain that fossilized
structures performed the same function that similar-looking structures
perform today. But the fact that ancient specimen has comb structures
on its feet—which aid modern spiders’ movement on a web—adds further
evidence.

The oldest confirmed spider fossil was found embedded in
ancient rock deposits dating to the mid-Devonian period 380 million
years ago, long before the appearance of four-footed vertebrates. This
specimen has fully-formed spinneret organs, said Shear, and is strong
evidence that spiders were already producing silk at that time. Another
small fossil dates to 415 million years ago, but is not complete enough
to confirm that it is part of a spider.

Finding spinnerets alone is not proof enough of web building, as
primitive spiders must originally have used the silk for another
less-complex task, said Coddington. Lining burrows, and creating eggs
sacs (which spiders still do with silk) are likely contenders, he said.

"This new find is conclusive evidence that Cretaceous-era spiders were
producing viscid silk," said Shear. "We are unlikely to find any older
[pieces of web] because this is one of the oldest amber deposits," he
said.

Amber deposits only appear in the fossil record in abundance following
the proliferation of modern flowering plants during the Cretaceous
period.

Stronger than bone and twice as elastic as nylon, spider silk has already proven its usefulness to spiders, but now scientists are looking into its potential importance to humans as well. Research is underway around the world to fabricate the tenacious fibers in the lab, and scientists hope to someday outfit soldiers and police in bullet-proof vests made of mass-produced spider silk. Some say spider silk can stop more than just a speeding bullet: Many experts claim that the silk of an orb weaver spider is so strong that a strand as thick as a pencil could stop a jumbo jet in flight.

The crosses, zigzags, and spirals woven by some spiders have long puzzled web watchers. But those seemingly superfluous decorations may be traps that use light to lure prey, a new study of Australian spiders finds.

"We really wanted to find out why the spiders were making a substantial investment in decorating their webs," said study co-author Dieter Hochuli at the University of Sydney in Australia.

Some experts have suggested the designs are meant to flag the web’s presence so large animals do not walk or fly into them. Others argue that the designs themselves lure prey. (Get spider facts.)

The study appears in this month’s issue of the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.

Ensnared

Many flower species reflect ultraviolet light, which insects use to identify food sources.

If spider webs reflect the same light, it would suggest that the spiders’ webs are mimicking the properties of flowers and tricking insects into coming closer.

Hochuli and colleagues coated Saint Andrew’s Cross webs in gardens near the University of Sydney with an ultraviolet filtering plastic. They then monitored what insects were caught daily in both filtered and unfiltered webs.

Flies, bees, wasps, and mosquitoes were all common catches on both filtered and unfiltered webs. In filtered webs, the overall numbers of most species dropped.

Mosquitoes, which do not see ultraviolet light, were unaffected by the filters.

Light Trap

The team concluded that the webs may be essentially setting a "light trap," where the reflection of the web strands lure passing insects to their deaths.

"Interestingly, the webs [decorated with crosses] were a little more sophisticated than we first thought," Hochuli said.

"The spiders seem to be exploiting the sensitivity of some prey to UV light in particular. When we filtered different components of the visual spectrum from webs … we dramatically altered prey-capture rates," he said.

Catherine Craig, an entomologist at Harvard University, who was not involved with the study, said, "This confirms the research that I did earlier in the field and laboratory. UV-reflecting decorations spun by [this] species appear to attract prey."

The next step is to further explore the effect of the decoration pattern itself, she said.

About 60 million years ago, a small shrew-like mammal captured its prey by stabbing it with dagger-like teeth that delivered a nasty dose of venom, paleontologists reported today.

"Nothing like that has ever been described before," said Richard Fox, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

Fox and his colleague Craig Scott found fossilized teeth at two sites in central Alberta. The remains are the first evidence to suggest that extinct mammals used venom to either capture prey or fend off predators.

Venoms are common in snakes and spiders, but only four living mammal species use venom today. According to Fox, evolutionary biologists have long wondered why venom is so rare in modern mammals.

The newly discovered tooth fossils—some belonging to the extinct shrew-like Bisonalveus browni and others to an unidentified creature—indicate the toxic strategy was perhaps more widespread among early mammals, Fox said.

Fox and Scott detail their findings in tomorrow’s issue of the science journal Nature.

Mark Dufton, a chemist and venom expert at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, said the discovery is a fascinating contribution to the understanding of early mammals.

"If a venomous capability was a frequent feature of these creatures, it means their power-to-weight ratio was generally higher than thought previously," Dufton wrote in an e-mail to National Geographic News. "They could have posed a much more serious threat towards competing vertebrates within their niches."

Dagger Teeth

B. browni fossils were first discovered in 1956. They consisted of lower jawbone fragments containing molar teeth, and were dated to about 60 million years ago.

Analysis of these fossils showed the ancient creature to be a small mammal, possibly distantly related to the modern scaly anteater known as the pangolin.

The newly discovered B. browni fossils are the best preserved remains of the extinct mammal. They include never-before-seen front teeth and a skull fragment containing the dagger-like grooved tooth that the paleontologists say is the tell-tale signature of a venomous bite.

The solenodon has a grooved dagger-like tooth on its lower jaw that it uses to inject venom that paralyzes its insect prey. The mammal stores its victims—still alive, but immobile—in a cache that it can devour at leisure, Fox said.

"We don’t know if [B. browni] did the same thing, but the canine is a stabbing tooth and indicates [the animal] was predating on something, presumably small invertebrate insects like beetles," he said.

Dufton, the University of Strathclyde venom expert, said Fox and Scott make a strong case that B. browni had teeth specially adapted to introduce venom—actually poisonous saliva—into its prey.

"The likelihood that the saliva was toxic and was required to subdue active prey is high," he said. "But one must also consider that if the animal was a highly active forager … introduction of saliva for digestive reasons could also be important."

Evolutionary Enigma

In addition to the solenodon, the only mammals that use venom today are the North American short-tailed shrew, the Eurasian water shrew, and the Australian duck-billed platypus. This rarity of venom among living mammals has long baffled biologists, Fox said.

"Why hasn’t it taken off? We don’t have a clue. It would seem that it would be [an] effective [strategy]," he said.

The discovery that B. browni and, in all likelihood, a few other extinct mammals used venom to secure prey suggests that venomous mammals were more widespread in the past.

As the fossil record of mammals from B. browni’s era improves, Fox said, he expects even more venomous mammals will be discovered.

According to Dufton at the University of Strathclyde, venom may be scarce among mammals today because predatory mammals use surprise, speed, and strength so efficiently in their attacks, and can inflict lethal damage with teeth and claws.

"The kill can be immediate," he said, "whereas a venom, however sophisticated, takes time."