Amazing Scorpion Facts
• Thousands of scorpions may reside in one garden wall.
• Only one very toxic species is found in the United States.
• Scorpion fossils with gills indicate that the animals once lived in the ocean.
• Scorpions are fluorescent at night—a trait that enables scientists to locate them easily with a black light. The function of this trait, if any, is unknown.
• A protein component found in scorpion venom is useful for fighting cancer in certain human cells. The component seems to be specific for particular nerve cells. If those cells go cancerous, the protein component can be coupled with cytotoxic agents, and the synthesized molecule can be used as a specific targeting tool to kill the cancerous cells.
• A hectare (2.5 acres) of desert may contain about a 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of scorpions.
• Scorpions have some of nature's most precise biological clocks, perhaps because they spend so much time in underground burrows.
• Scorpions are incredibly resistant to radiation and have survived near ground zero at nuclear test sites.
• Scorpions often climb into a bush with their kill, where it may take them a day and a half to eat.
• The scorpion diet often includes other scorpions.
source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0624_030624_scorpions.html
