Venomous Mammal Caught on Camera

Rare footage of a Hispaniolan solenodon - one of the most strange and elusive mammals - has been captured by scientists. To see a video of the creature, click here.

Large, and with a long, thin snout, the Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) resembles an overgrown shrew; it can inject passing prey with a venom-loaded bite.

Little is known about the creature, which is found in the Caribbean, but it is under threat from deforestation, hunting and introduced species.

The mammal was filmed in the summer of 2008 during a month-long expedition to the Dominican Republic - one of only two countries where this nocturnal, insect-eating animal can be found (the other is Haiti).

It is the only living mammal that can actually inject venom into their prey through specialised teeth. The fossil record shows that some other now-extinct mammal groups also had so-called dental venom delivery systems. So this might have been a more general ancient mammalian characteristic that has been lost in most modern mammals, and is only retained in a couple of very ancient lineages.