Abstract：
Venom represents a key adaptation of many venomous predators, allowing them to immobilise prey quickly through chemical rather than physical warfare. Evolutionary arms races between prey and a predator are believed to be the main factor influencing the potency and composition of predatory venoms. Predators with narrowly restricted diets are expected to evolve specifically potent venom towards their focal prey, with lower efficacy on alternative prey. Here, we evaluate hypotheses on the evolution of prey-specific venom, focusing on the effect of restricted diet, prey defences, and prey resistance. Prey specificity as a potential evolutionary dead end is also discussed. We then provide an overview of the current knowledge on venom prey specificity, with emphasis on snakes, cone snails, and spiders. As the current evidence for venom prey specificity is still quite limited, we also overview the best approaches and methods for its investigation and provide a brief summary of potential model groups. Finally, possible applications of prey-specific toxins are discussed.
摘要：
毒液代表了许多有毒捕食者的关键适应，允许他们通过化学战而不是物理战迅速固定猎物。猎物和捕食者之间的进化军备竞赛被认为是影响捕食性毒液效力和组成的主要因素。饮食受限的捕食者有望向其局灶性猎物进化出特别有效的毒液，对替代猎物的功效较低。这里,我们评估了猎物特异性毒液进化的假设，关注限制饮食的效果，猎物防御,和猎物抵抗。还讨论了猎物特异性作为潜在的进化死胡同。然后，我们概述了有关毒液猎物特异性的当前知识，强调蛇，锥蜗牛，和蜘蛛。由于目前关于毒液猎物特异性的证据仍然相当有限，我们还概述了其调查的最佳方法和方法，并简要总结了潜在的模型组。最后,讨论了猎物特异性毒素的可能应用。
