The post The Jurassic Shrew: Meet the Venomous Mammal with a \u201cJoystick\u201d Nose<\/a> appeared first on A-Z Animals<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Hispaniolan solenodon is a \u201cliving fossil\u201d that survived the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Its lineage has remained virtually unchanged for 76 million years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n It possesses a bizarre toolkit for survival, including venomous saliva delivered through grooved teeth, a nose that pivots like a joystick on a ball-and-socket joint, and the ability to navigate in total darkness using echolocation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Despite surviving for eons, the solenodon is now endangered. It faces extreme pressure from habitat loss and invasive predators like cats and dogs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Deep in the leaf litter of Hispaniola lives a creature that defies modern evolutionary logic. The Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus<\/em>), or agouta, is a true living fossil. This little creature not only witnessed the age of the Tyrannosaurus rex<\/em> but also survived the asteroid that brought that era to a cataclysmic end.<\/p>\n After spending eons in isolation on its Caribbean island, the Hispaniolan solenodon has retained prehistoric features that seem more suited to a fantasy novel. In a rare mammalian feat, it delivers a toxic, snake-like venom through specialized grooves in its teeth. Its nose is connected to its skull by a unique ball-and-socket joint, allowing it to pivot its snout with mechanical precision when hunting for prey.<\/p>\n While most prehistoric species either evolved into new forms or vanished into the fossil record, the Hispaniolan solenodon\u2019s lineage has remained virtually unchanged for 76 million years. Today, this ginger-haired survivor is one of only two living members of the family Solenodontidae<\/em>, along with the Cuban solenodon (Atopogale cubana<\/em>). It is technically classified within the order Eulipotyphla, <\/em>but it shares very little with its modern neighbors, having diverged from the ancestors of shrews and moles during the Late Cretaceous.<\/p>\nQuick Take<\/h2>\n
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The Last Survivor of the Cretaceous<\/h2>\n