TOXIN - is a poisonous type of substance produced inside the living cells and organisms. Ludwig Brieger was the first to use the term Toxin.
Animal Toxin
Jellyfish - also known as jellies, sea jellies or Medusozoa. They are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. They are commonly found in the ocean, some hydrozoan jellyfish are found on the fresh water. All jellyfish sting their prey using nematocysts or also known as cnidocysts. Contact with a jellyfish tentacle can trigger millions of nematocysts to pierce the skin and inject venom and yet the sting of only some jellyfish species causes an adverse reaction in humans. When a nematocyst is triggered by contact by predator, pressure builds up rapidly inside it up to 2,000 lbs/sq. inch until it bursts open. A lance inside the nematocyst pierces the victim's skin, and poison flows through into the victim.Touching or being touched by a jellyfish can be very uncomfortable, sometimes requiring medical assistance; sting effects range from no effect to extreme pain to death. Because of the wide variation in response to jellyfish stings, it is best not to contact any jellyfish with bare skin. Even beached and dying jellyfish can still sting when touched.
Poison dart frog - also dart-poison frog, poison frog or formerly poison arrow frog is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to Central and South America. Unlike most frogs, these species are active during the day and often have brightly-colored bodies. Although all wild dendrobatids are at least somewhat toxic, levels of toxicity vary considerably from one species to the next and from one population to another. Many poison dart frogs secrete lipophilic alkaloid toxins through their skin. Alkaloids in the skin glands of poison frogs serve as a chemical defense against predation, and they are therefore able to be active alongside potential predators during the day.The most toxic of poison-dart frog species is Phyllobates terribilis. It is argued that dart frogs do not synthesize their poisons, but sequester the chemicals from arthropod prey items, such as ants, centipedes and mites.
Scorpions - are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger. Though the scorpion has a fearsome reputation as venomous, only about 25 species have venom capable of killing a human being. All known scorpion species possess venom and use it primarily to kill or paralyze their prey so that it can be eaten; in general it is fast-acting, allowing for effective prey capture. It is also used as a defense against predators. The venom is a mixture of compounds (neurotoxins, enzyme inhibitors, etc.) each not only causing a different effect, but possibly also targeting a specific animal. Each compound is made and stored in a pair of glandular sacs and is released in a quantity regulated by the scorpion itself.
Plant toxin
Aconitum - These herbaceous perennial plants are chiefly natives of the mountainous parts of the northern hemisphere, growing in moisture retentive but well draining soils on mountain meadows. Their dark green leaves lack stipules. They are palmate or deeply palmately lobed with 5–7 segments. Each segment again is 3-lobed with coarse sharp teeth. The leaves have a spiral or alternate arrangement. The lower leaves have long petioles. It contains large quantities of the alkaloid pseudaconitine, which is a deadly poison.
Buttercup - are familiar wildflowers, favouring open waste ground and acidic soils throughout Nova Scotia, not to mention the middle of the back lawn. Their irritant qualities are probably the basis of the children’s game in which one child presses a buttercup to the sensitive skin just below the chin, “to see if you like butter.” The slight redness caused by such casual contact is supposed, in the game, to indicate a butter lover. Prolonged contact can have more uncomfortable results. The breakdown of a glycoside releases a blister-inducing juice, found in many species while fresh. Generally buttercups have yellow cup-like flowers and deeply divided leaves, which may or may not be fuzzy.
Poison ivy - is a poisonous North American plant that is well known for its production of urushiol, a clear liquid compound found within the sap of the plant that causes an itching rash in most people who touch it.
