current newsUnited States of America – In the Indiana Jones film series, Jones famously warned that “when you meet a scorpion, the bigger the better.”
Reported from Dailymail.co.ukon May 12, now, scientists have shown that the fictional professor of archeology has been right all along, after confirming that a smaller scorpion species has a more potent and lethal venom.
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Researchers from NUI Galway analyzed 36 species of scorpion and found that the smallest species were 100 times more powerful than the largest.
“Beyond the film’s entertaining trivia, there are good evolutionary reasons to expect the outcome and important medical implications for such a pattern,” said Dr Kevin Healy, senior author of the study.
In their study, the team set out to test whether Indiana Jones’ claims were true, or just throwaway film info.
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The team analyzed 36 scorpion species, including the deathstalker (Leiurus quinquestriatus), the rock scorpion (Hadogenes granulatus) and the skin scorpion (Scorpion Centruroides noxius).
Their analysis included measurements of the animals’ average length, as well as their venom potential.
Their results confirmed Jones’ claim in the film, that the smaller the scorpion, the more lethal its venom is.
The Brazilian yellow scorpion, which is usually 2-3 inches long, is 100 times stronger than the rock scorpion, which can reach 8.3 inches in length.
“When we looked at the most potent and dangerous scorpion venoms, we found they tended to be associated with species such as relatively small deathstalkers,” said Dr Healy.
“In contrast, the largest species such as the rock scorpion have a venom that may cause little pain.”
However, the potential pattern was not only about body size, but clamp size was also found to be correlated.
For example, research has found that the South African thick-tailed scorpion is more than 10 times more powerful than the Israeli golden scorpion, despite having much smaller pincers.
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Alannah Forde, lead author of the study, said: “Not only did we find that bigger was better when it came to people being stung, we also found that larger pincers were better at assessing scorpion danger levels.”
“While species such as the great clawed scorpion may be small to medium in size, they rely primarily on their large pincers rather than their relatively weak venom.”
Scorpions use venomous stings and their clamps to catch prey and for defense.
The findings suggest that there is an evolutionary trade-off between these two weapons, according to the researchers.
Species that use more energy to make larger pincers have less energy available for poison.
This results in larger scorpions with larger pincers that can use their physical size and rely less on poison, and a smaller species with smaller pincers that have developed stronger venom.
According to a 2008 study, there are more than 1.2 million cases of scorpion stings every year, leading to more than 3,250 deaths.
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The team hopes their findings will help develop better medical approaches to scorpion stings.
Dr Michel Dugon, the study’s senior author, said: “As scientists, it is our job to also test popular wisdom.”
Most victims hospitalized with severe symptoms after scorpion stings are children under the age of 15.
“Identifying the species responsible is critical to delivering the right treatment, and simple rules like ‘bigger is better’ are the first small steps to saving lives.”
