News Paleontology

Killer Bite: Ancient, tiny mammal probably used venom

By Sid Perkins

- More than 2 years ago

Recently excavated fossils of a mammal species originally described decades ago suggest that the mouse-size creature had a venomous bite, a trait previously unreported in ancient mammals.

GROOVY TOOTH. Jaw fragments and teeth from Bisonalveus browni, an extinct, mouse-size mammal that had a prominent groove in some of its upper canine teeth.